I was wrong about
preventing heart attacks

It’s true. I may have been giving the wrong recommendation about preventing heart attacks.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I know how to prevent heart attacks. It’s pretty easy, really. Every single person over 60 should have an IV chelation treatment once a week. Then, after five months, continue to have one every month as maintenance. After 30 years, I have not seen one patient have a heart attack or a stroke who was on this program. And that includes many patients with a very strong family history. But, unfortunately, not everyone knows about or follows this simple advice.

As a result, I see patients every week who have had heart attacks. One of the first things they ask me is whether or not they should continue taking a baby aspirin (80 mg) once a day in order to prevent more attacks. This is where I was wrong. For years, I’ve said, “Yes. Keep taking the aspirin because in many cases it does prevent heart attacks. I have never seen anyone develop an ulcer from taking that small a dose.” But I just read a study that may cause me to change my mind.

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In this study, researchers examined 187 patients who were taking aspirin every day. They all took between 75 to 325 mg of aspirin a day for at least one month to prevent heart attacks. Then they performed an endoscopy on them to see what their stomach lining looked like. They discovered that one in every 10 patients had an ulcer at least 3 mm in diameter. But that wasn’t the real problem. This was: Only one in every five of the patients with the ulcers had any symptoms at all. So just because someone taking aspirin doesn’t have any symptoms of an ulcer is not proof that they don’t have an ulcer.

The authors of the study also helped identify patients who were most at risk. People older than 70 years had three times the risk. And anyone who tested positive for a Helicobacter pylori infection had a whopping 18 times greater risk!

So anyone on low-dose aspirin who is over 70 needs to reconsider taking aspirin. There are so many other ways to prevent heart attacks that don’t cause ulcers or any other side effects for that matter. Of course, chelation therapy is the best preventive. But I’m also talking about fish oils, garlic, and gingko biloba extract.

And, finally, if your doctor insists you take aspirin, insist that he give you a test for H. pylori. If the test is positive, don’t take it. The risk is way too high.

Finding your Real Cures,

Frank Shallenberger, MD

REF:

N. D. YEOMANS, A. I. LANAS, et al. Prevalence and incidence of gastroduodenal ulcers during treatment with vascular protective doses of aspirin Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics Volume 22, Issue 9, pages 795-801, November 2005.

Laine L. Review article: gastrointestinal bleeding with low-dose aspirin – what's the risk? Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2006 Sep 15;24(6):897-908

Copyright 2010 Soundview Publishing, LLC

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