1964 Awake! - Theocratic Collector.com

all drugs, has its share of disadvantages,
and many efforts have been made to over·
come them."
Especially have voices been raised
against the heavy and prolonged use of
aspirin. Thus, in the United States within
the past year, the official voice of organ·
ized medicine had the following to say:
"A widespread educational program must
be started to warn against the abusive use
of analgesic combinations. All preparations
should carry labels recommending no more
than six tablets in twenty·four hours and
the avoidance of long-continued use. Need
for these drugs for periods exceeding ten
days is a warning to seek medical advice.
Failure to follow these recommendations
may lead to serious harmful effects."
Because aspirin is readily obtained (requiring
no doctor's prescription), is cheap
(as little as nine cents a hundred tablets),
and brings quick even though often only
temporary relief, there is a tendency to use
it freely. But let's face it, aspirin is a drug,
and no drug is without side effects. Taking
any drug is a calculated risk in which one
weighs the good the drug does with the
harm it might do. Aspirin is said to be
the safest of all drugs, and, while that may
be true, it still follows that the less you
resort to it the better.
Incidentally, any number of research
teams have failed to find any appreciable
difference in various aspirins on the basis
of their cost, nor have they been able to
find any justification for the claims made
by highly advertised products containing
other drugs in addition to aspirin; at least
not as regards dissolving time in the stomach
and the effect upon the stomach.
Some minor disadvantages of taking
aspirin can be mitigated. For instance,
where there is distress resulting from taking
aspirin, drinking a glass of water or
milk with it or taKing it at mealtimes is
recommended. Or a pinch of bicarbonate
18
of soda may help. Soluble calcium asphin
is currently being recommended by many
as superior to regular aspirin, but, here
again, medical opinion is divided.
Among the more serious disadvantages
of taking aspirin is loss of blood. Recent
research has shown that continued and
heavy use of aspirin results in considerable
blood loss through the stool. Normally the
body loses a small amount of blood this
way daily, but this loss increases ,five to
ten times and even more with continued
and heavy use of aspirin This increased
loss would be especially harmful to a person
with low blood pressure or to one who
is somewhat anemic.
Then, I again, aspirin, because of its
slightly acid nature, may play havoc with
the stomach, especially a sensitive one, as
can be seen by the large number of patients
who develop vomiting after its use.
No one who has stomach ulcers or who
may be a candidate for a stomach operation
should take aspirin. At times the reaction
is violent, indicating that the taker
is allergic to it. Among such reactions are
hives, swelling of the face, tongue, throat
and a circulatory collapse similar to shock.
Thus a single five-grain tablet almost killed
a woman patient because of her sensitivity
to it. Asthmatic patients are especially
likely to be sensitive to aspirin.
Another sensitive area is the kidneys.
About 20 percent of the aspirin is destroyed
by the body and the rest is eliminated
through the kidneys. The fact that
aspirin causes kidney irritation can be seen
by its causing albumin and blood products
to appear in the urine. Physicians there·
fore strongly urge that anyone having a
kidney ailment should severely restrict his
intake, of aspirin, if not stopping it altogether.
The toxic nature of aspirin is seen from
the fact that people have committed suicide
by taking a large number of tablets,
AWAKEI