More on Aspirin Resistance, NSAIDs, and Stroke

In an earlier blog I discussed aspirin resistance as a factor in heart attack. A new study now confirms similar results in stroke victims. You are 14 times more likely to have a recurrence of stroke if you are aspirin resistant.

Similar to previous studies, 20% of partcipants were found to be resistant to the effects of aspirin on the interruption of the arachodonic acid cascade that inhibits platelet aggregation (clotting). Of the 87 patients who had recurrent strokes while taking aspirin, 57 (66%) were nonresponsive to aspirin. That an odds ratio of more than 14 times greater. Put another way, of the patients who were aspirin responsive, only 5% were among those who suffered recurrent symptoms while taking aspirin.

In another paper in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, the same researchers found an interesting association between people taking both aspirin and NSAIDs (ibuprofen for example). All of the participants who took both aspirin along with some other NSAID showed signs of aspirin resistance. However, when they stopped taking the NSAID, the aspirin resistance disappeared.

Dr. Gengo, one the head researchers commented in a Heartwire interview, "There are many people out there who are taking an NSAID while on aspirin and therefore putting themselves at increased risk of ischemic events (e.g. heart attack and stroke - HH). This study shows that there are many strokes every year that could be prevented."