Everything is a Trade Off

You know shootings are the only thing I think get over blown in the media.  New health news is another band wagon everyone seems to want to jump on with one side of the story. And here's a news flash doctors are not immune to rhetoric.

Just the other day, I was told by someone again that aspirin therapy is a no brain-er to protect yourself from a heart attack. Now today I read this doctor's report on the BDN.

" A recent article in the Archives of Internal Medicine 

reviewed several large studies on low-dose aspirin therapy for people without heart disease. While the article found a 10 percent drop in non-fatal heart attacks, there was no reduction in deaths with aspirin therapy. Also, the reviewers estimated that to prevent one minor heart attack, 120 people would have to be on aspirin therapy for a year. This is called the number needed to treat, or NNT.

However, aspirin therapy has a side effect — it stresses the lining of the stomach and can cause heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease, even bleeding. The reviewers found that there was one serious bleeding event in every 73 people who used aspirin therapy. This is called the number needed to harm, or NNH.

This means that low-dose aspirin therapy is almost twice as likely to cause damage as it is to help prevent a heart attack. According to the authors, “routine use of aspirin for primary prevention is not warranted and treatment decisions need to be considered on a case-by-case basis.”.

I give.  If I'm lookin' to play doctor, I'll save it for my boyfriend.