Aspirin can be a godsend when you're racing to meet a deadline and your head is pounding. Or when you're doubled over with menstrual cramps and you have an important presentation to make.

This common pain killer has been around since 1899 and resides in virtually every bathroom cabinet. It has become the most widely consumed drug in the world, with Americans alone gulping down 29 billion aspirin tablets every year.

Many of these astounding 29 billion doses will be taken not for pain, but as a preventative for cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes caused by blood clots. Low dose aspirin therapy is standard medical practice for people who have already had a heart attack or stroke; or to hopefully prevent a first time heart attack in people suffering from angina.

These benefits are the result of aspirins “blood thinning” properties. However, aspirin doesn't actually thin your blood, instead it works by inhibiting the narrowing of blood vessels and preventing the clumping together of blood platelets, which can lead to blood clots.

As heart attacks and some kinds of strokes are caused by platelets sticking together and forming a blood clot, it's easy to see why aspirin therapy has become a first line therapy for cardiologists. With so much widespread positive press for the heart benefits of low dose aspirin therapy, it's not surprising to learn that many people self medicate with low dose aspirin, cheaply and easily purchased without a script from their local pharmacy.

What many of these self prescribers don't know is that along with its benefits aspirin brings a very real risk of some potentially life threatening side effects. The biggest problem comes from its harshness on the stomach, with side effects ranging from annoying nausea and heartburn, through to fatal bleeding stomach ulcers.

These bleeding ulcers are especially dangerous as one fifth of sufferers do not have any warning symptoms. In America alone over 100,000 people are hospitalised annually for gastrointestinal problems caused by the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen. For 16,500 of these patients, the drug-related bleeding problems will cost them their life.

On the one hand aspirin is a life saving drug (by reducing blood clotting), but on the other hand it has a potentially life threatening side effect (hemorrhaging). Furthermore, while aspirin lowers the risk of strokes caused by blood clots, it simultaneously increases the risk of strokes caused by a bleed in the brain (hemmorhagic stroke).

With the increasingly widespread use of aspirin and other NSAIDs, the number of strokes associated with blood thinning drugs has risen by 700 per cent in the past 25 years. The risk is especially high in the over 75s, and healthy elderly people taking aspirin as a “lifestyle choice” may actually be doing themselves much more harm than good.

It's also worth noting that there are many other ways of keeping your blood thin and “unsticky” safely, without risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, hemorrhaging stroke or kidney failure.

Herbal medicine abounds with blood thinners that have been around for centuries. A little knowledge in the kitchen can transform your dinner plate into a delicious anti-coagulant.

Add generous quantities of garlic, onions, ginger and turmeric to your meal for maximum cardiovascular benefit. Boost omega 3 fatty acids (with their powerful anti-platelet effect) by serving up oily fish three to five times a week. Choose from salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel and tuna especially.

There's a reason why some herbs and vitamins are banned in the weeks leading up to surgery - they can potentially cause bleeding during surgery because of their ability to thin the blood and make it less sticky. Such natural blood thinners include: fish oil, vitamin E, B6, vitamin C, CoQ10, evening primrose oil, ginko biloba, and the ginger, garlic and turmeric already mentioned.

If you've been prescribed aspirin by your GP, DO NOT stop taking it without talking to them about your concerns first. If you're one of the growing number of people who take a self prescribed daily dose of this drug, you would be well recommended to discuss your individual case with your doctor to ensure that benefits outweigh the potential risk associated with aspirin.

Lynda Wharton is a health and wellbeing writer, columnist and author. She also practises as an acupuncturist and naturopath.

lynda@lyndawharton.com

www.lyndawharton.com