M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 5
Aspirin Has Value as a
Therapeutic Drug
Heart attack, cancer are targets of
well-established tablet
by Jean Jeffers, Staff Writer
Aspirin is an old and esteemed
drug, having been around since
antiquity. Hippocrates referred to its
use in salicylic tea to reduce fevers
around 400 BCE. Aspirin became a
drug in 1853 and has been in favor
off and on since that time. Today
it is used in the treatment of heart
attack.
Daily aspirin therapy, usually in a
dosage of 81 mg, is usually prescribed for lowering the risk of heart
attack. The drug is recommended
for long-term use for people with
risk of a second heart attack or in
people who have never had a heart
attack but are at high risk for one.
2 HAMBURG JOURNAL
According to the Mayo Clinic
Web site (www.mayoclinic.org),
aspirin interferes with the blood’s
clotting action. When you bleed,
clotting cells (platelets) build up at
the site of the wound. The platelets
h