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Final report on the aspirin component of the ongoing Physicians' Health Study

Article Abstract:

A study to determine if low doses of aspirin (325 milligrams every other day) help reduce heart diseases and if beta carotene, the orange pigment of carrots, helps reduce cancer rates was performed on over 22,000 participating physicians. Aspirin reduced the risk of heart attack, or myocardial infarction (caused when heart muscle dies due to loss of its blood supply), by an average of 44 percent. A statistically insignificant increase in the risk of stroke, the sudden incapacitation caused when part of the brain loses its blood supply, occurred among subjects taking aspirin, primarily for hemorrhagic stroke, a stroke in which a blood vessel of the brain bursts. Aspirin did not reduce risk of death from all heart problems combined. The risk of heart attack dropped only in subjects over the age of 50. Risk of death was reduced in all patients regardless of blood cholesterol levels, although the reduction was greatest in those patients with low cholesterol levels. Subjects taking aspirin had a slightly lower risk of ulcers, but a substantially higher risk of requiring a blood transfusion. Thus aspirin reduces the risk of hear attack, but the study was inconclusive about its effects on total deaths related to heart problems because too few of the doctors studied died of heart problems.

Care and treatment, Prevention, Physicians, Medical professions, Coronary heart disease, Heart attack, Dosage and administration, Aspirin, Cerebrovascular disease, Cerebrovascular disorders, Infarction

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What role for chiropractic in health care?

Article Abstract:

Chiropractic may be beneficial in patients with musculoskeletal disorders but not for other kinds of conditions. Two 1998 studies shed some light on the proper role for chiropractic in health care. One found that chiropractic manipulation was slightly better than no treatment in patients with low back pain. The other found that chiropractic was not beneficial in the treatment of asthma. Chiropractic treatments are expensive, but fewer treatments may make it cost-effective.

Editorial, Evaluation, Chiropractic, Manipulation (Therapeutics), Orthopedic manipulation

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