Chewable aspirin best for heart: Study
POSTED May 16, 2009 - 16:36 | POSTED BY Jyoti Pal
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on May 16, 2009 - 20:27
Chewable aspirin is more rapidly absorbed, making its benefits surpass the conventional aspirin tablet that is either swallowed whole or chewed and then swallowed, the researchers from the University of California, San Diego, found.
Details of the study
14 cardiac patients (13 men) aged 20 to 61 were enrolled for the study. Randomly divided into three groups, the first group was prescribed the regular solid aspirin tablets, ones that are swallowed whole and the second group, also taking the standard solid aspirin tablet, was asked to chew the pill before swallowing.
The third group was prescribed the chewable aspirin tablets, ones that are chewed and swallowed simultaneously.
Shortly after taken the drug, the researchers measured the levels of aspirin in the blood for each volunteer in three groups.
Findings of the study
It was found that aspirin works best when administered in chewable form.
The group that consumed chewable aspirin had the highest levels of aspirin in their blood as compared to patients who either swallowed whole or chewed then swallowed regular aspirin, researchers reported.
"This supports the recommendation to use chewable aspirin formulation in the treatment of ACS (acute coronary syndrome- the medical term meaning heart attack or sudden onset of angina),” the researchers said.
Implications of the study
This "seemingly quite simple finding" could lead to improvements in the care of heart attack patients, lead researcher, Sean Nordt of the University of California, San Diego, hopes.
According to the current guidelines for the treatment of ACS, one adult-strength aspirin (325 mg) is administered to prevent the formation of blood clots in people with known coronary artery disease.
While a regular aspirin tablet works within 15 minutes, the chewable tablet of same strength proves more effective in setting off a heart attack or sudden onset of angina in high risk patients, researchers asserted.
But in case of non-availability of the chewable aspirin tablet, taking in the regular form is beneficial anyways, researchers maintained.
