Why does aspirin abuse make users prone to stomach bleeding?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted with Senior Doctor, Specialist II Doan Du Dat - General Internal Medicine - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Ha Long International Hospital.

1. What is stomach bleeding?

Stomach bleeding occurs when the stomach lining of a patient is damaged, leading to bleeding. Gastrointestinal bleeding is considered an acute and particularly dangerous complication of various gastric pathologies.
Stomach bleeding is divided into:
Stomach bleeding, mild condition: can lead to anemia, patient's mental not alert, body fatigue. Stomach bleeding becomes severe: the patient will become weak and experience some dangerous complications such as heart failure, small and unstable pulse, making it difficult for the patient to breathe. Gastrointestinal bleeding when severe, if not treated promptly, can lead to death.

2. Common symptoms of stomach bleeding

Patients with stomach bleeding vomiting blood: this is an extremely common sign, 9 out of 10 patients have it, when the patient feels full, indigestion and may vomit food. Eaten with fresh blood or black blood, the oral cavity has a fishy odor. In addition, the patient can vomit the food first and the blood back. If this condition is not intervened in time, it can cause the patient to become weak and anemic. Patients with stomach bleeding and blood in the stool: then the patient often passes out fresh blood or black stools with a very unpleasant fishy odor. In many cases, it can also be accompanied by epigastric pain and then spread to the sides of the ribs and back. Pigmentation of the skin, weakness, fatigue: the patient is often tired, short of breath, weak face, pale skin are typical signs of dengue fever. The main cause of these symptoms is that the patient is suffering from blood loss for a long time and is not corrected in time.

3. Pharmacological effects of aspirin

Aspirin is commonly used as a drug with analgesic, anti-inflammatory effects (used for muscle and joint diseases), and hypothermia (used for patients with fever). .
In addition, Aspirin is also used to fight platelet aggregation due to the inhibition of the body's synthesis of thromboxane A2 and prostacyclin, which are two substances necessary for blood clotting, that is, aspirin has the task of preventing blood clotting. blood, also known as antithrombotic.

In addition, because of its ability to prevent platelet aggregation, aspirin is considered a rare drug that can prevent the formation of blood clots that have caused thrombosis, leading to many cardiovascular diseases. It helps prevent blood clots from blocking the coronary arteries.

4. Why does aspirin abuse make the elderly prone to stomach bleeding?

Some elderly people are in stable health but use aspirin with the intention of preventing disease. However, this can increase the chance of stomach bleeding.
Older people, if they are in good and stable health, are advised not to use aspirin regularly. Scientific evidence has shown that this drug benefits people who have had a stroke or heart attack. However, many studies show that no health benefits can be found in people who have never had a heart attack or stroke over the age of 70. Even drugs are the main cause of increasing the risk of stomach bleeding inside the body.
Although scientists have proven the benefits of aspirin, many studies have also shown the potential risks may increase as people enter middle age.
Because the effect can be against platelet aggregation, the process of using aspirin should be very careful (that is, they should not be used for conditions that are likely to cause bleeding such as dengue fever). bleeding, or pregnant women should not use the drug during the last 3 months of pregnancy because this can lead to the risk of bleeding during delivery).
The abuse of aspirin makes the elderly susceptible to stomach bleeding because then the stomach lining of the patient will have to endure certain damage (gastroduodenal ulcer, or cause gastrointestinal bleeding).

Recommendations have shown that aspirin should only be used on an empty stomach, that is, taken after meals to use food as fillers, preventing aspirin (or acetylsalicylic acid) from being able to direct contact and cause damage to the gastric mucosa.
In order to reduce the risk of dangerous aspirin due to the acidic nature of direct contact with the gastric mucosa, scientists have created drug forms capable of minimizing the harmful effects of causing ulcers of the stomach. aspirin, for example, create drug forms: buffered aspirin (Bufferin), soluble aspirin (Aspifar), enteric-coated aspirin (Aspirin pH8), or injectable aspirin (Aspegic infectable) to avoid drug release. accumulate in the gastric mucosa and cause ulcers.
Thus, in order to avoid dangerous complications such as possible stomach bleeding, affecting life, elderly people should not abuse or arbitrarily use aspirin for heart health, supplement If you suspect that you have heart disease, you should see a doctor and consult a doctor.
To protect health, the elderly should regularly check their general health to detect the disease early and have the best treatment, should not arbitrarily use drugs to avoid causing many dangerous complications. Currently, Vinmec International General Hospital has general health checkup packages suitable for each age, gender and individual needs of customers with a reasonable price policy.
In addition to the elderly, when aspirin abuse is easy to cause bleeding, it should be noted that people with a history of peptic ulcer disease, or a blood clotting disorder are also prone to bleeding when using Aspirin. Therefore, use aspirin only when prescribed by your doctor.
The results of the patient's examination will be returned to the home. After receiving the results of the general health examination, if you detect diseases that require intensive examination and treatment, you can use services from other specialties right at the Hospital with quality treatment and services. outstanding customer service.

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