colds-advice

Texas_wedge said:

Tylenol
Mike, isn't it just straight acetaminophen? Other brands contain that plus other ingredients. We don't know the name in Europe where, like the rest of the world, it's usually known as paracetamol. Avoid much use of ibuprofen if you have problem kidney(s) and avoid acetaminophen if you have liver problems. I would have thought moderate use of it just to combat a cold for a few days unlikely to do any material harm but your suggestion of seeking expert advice of course makes sense.

foxhd said:

Aspirin
I've always been an advocate of aspirin. But now with the MDX, inflammation is encouraged.So anything but low dose 81 mg ASA is discouraged. So, I just deal with everything. Acetaminophen is what is recommended. Never cared for that.

Texas_wedge said:

Aspirin and cancer
Raj, it's not really as contradictory as appears. Aspirin has been, and continues to be, a wonder drug in many respects and its utility in reducing risk from heart attack, stroke and cancer, for instance, are well established.

The latest research emanates from Oxford Uni, and has been very widely reported upon in the UK. It seems very clear that regular low dose aspirin reduces the risk of suffering from many forms of cancer AND is an effective treatment also, for those who have cancer, in reducing the likelihood of metastasis. However, there have long been known to be contraindications, in particular in respect of internal bleeding so you mustn't take it for a while in advance of surgery. You may have conditions that make taking it less desirable and it's thought that over 70's should only do so if approved by their GP.

Unfortunately, the beneficial effects appear not to apply to kidney cancer, but maybe the picture will become clearer with further research.

One interesting side-light on the economic interests involved is apparent from this bit in an article in the UK newspaper, The Guardian:

Can aspirin help people with cancer?

Aspirin appears to slow the spread of cancer, but doctors need to do studies on patients to confirm how effective the drug is. "If you have a new diagnosis of cancer then, with the exception of children, I think no matter what age you are, it's worth thinking about. The drugs you are already taking are much more dangerous than aspirin," Rothwell said.

When was aspirin's anticancer effect discovered?

Studies in mice in the 1960s showed that aspirin slowed the spread of cancer, but the research never made it into clinics, partly because aspirin was off patent, so companies had little to gain from funding trials."

[Peter Rothwell is the man behind the latest research.]

livealive said:

Aspirin
Maybe I can pop a few a day ?

Texas_wedge said:

Aspirin
Oh Fox, you're so cynical!
Gary, are you sure the tinnitus isn't due to Harley crashing, plus repeated clips round the ear for the jokes you come up with?
Raj - yes, unless you are advised of any contra-indicating factors, regular low-dose aspirin (buffered, preferably) might have a lot to commend it for you. Ask your medicos and tell us what they say.

Texas_wedge said:

Aspirin and cancer
Gary, forgive me if I should know the answer already but why do you take aspirin regularly?

The latest research on this topic has elicited animated debate in the british press. One of the more interesting items, which I find persuasive is this:

"Then on the conflict between the profit motive and patient health:

Here's a useful recent survey of aspirin & cancer, 1968-2011.

In rather understated academic terms, it reinforces the idea that aspirin has indeed been largely disregarded in favour of much more expensive and toxic drugs because, as a medical friend told me, 'there's no money in it' (he wrote a doctorate on the lowly drug 25 years ago, and is now clinical director of one of the largest hospitals in the UK).

The article concludes:

Current drug development work recognises that the growth of tumours involves cross-talk between different signalling pathways, and that resistance develops to agents that have a single target. Aspirin affects multiple intracellular pathways and influences physiological processes such as apoptosis and angiogenesis that are important in the growth and development of malignancies. Publicly funded researchers have a responsibility to ensure that drugs for which there is no longer a financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies to develop further are assessed in light of current knowledge and evolving clinical practice. Aspirin pre-dates current anti-cancer strategies such as the use of adjuvant chemotherapy after a potentially curative operation. Although significant tumour shrinkage is not seen when aspirin is administered for other clinical indications such as cardiovascular disease, epidemiological evidence and pre-clinical data suggest that aspirin is worthy of further investigation particularly in the adjuvant setting, after potentially curative surgery and chemotherapy if appropriate, when disease burden is expected to be minimal.

There is also potential for wider health benefits; colorectal cancer shares similar risk factors, such as smoking and the metabolic syndrome, with coronary artery disease; thus, aspirin could potentially be beneficial from both an oncological and cardiological perspective (Chan et al, 2007). In any future trials the challenge will be to identify and exclude those individuals most at risk of toxicity, for example, those with a previous history of gastric ulceration (Patrono et al, 2001) and include those most likely to benefit.

The current limited testing of aspirin (http://clinicaltrials.gov) as a therapeutic agent either in the adjuvant setting (ASCOLT and Big A trial) or in combination with other anti-cancer agents is in marked contrast to the number of studies that were initiated using selective Cox-2 inhibitors before 2004. There were numerous phase II studies and at least 12 randomised phase III trials that were ongoing in 2004, before the concerns about cardiovascular toxicity [of Cox-2 inhibitors targeting only a single pathway] were raised, with >9000 planned participants including those with breast, colorectal, oesophageal, prostate and lung malignancies. A number of these studies involved rofecoxib and had to be discontinued when the product was withdrawn. Others were stopped early although the investigational agent (usually celecoxib) was not withdrawn.

Aspirin continues to be evaluated in vitro and in pre-clinical models to help elucidate mechanisms involved in carcinogenesis and the response of tumours to anti-neoplastic agents. Recent randomised evidence from trials primarily designed to prevent cardiovascular disease show a reduction in cancer incidence with long-term follow-up and epidemiological evidence from colorectal and breast cancer studies evaluating the effects of aspirin use after diagnosis suggests that aspirin may have a role in the adjuvant setting. The clinical management of patients is also continually evolving, with new combinations of agents or strategies being assessed; aspirin should not be overlooked in this process because it is neither new nor expensive."