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For this purpose people often take various painkillers – from paracetamol and ibuprofen to acylpyrin.
The latter, acylpyrin, is also often prescribed by doctors as a blood thinner. However, it is by no means a harmless drug. On the contrary, it can have far-reaching adverse consequences.
Why do some doctors prescribe acylpyrin to prevent heart attacks?
When you bleed, your blood platelets begin to clump at the site of injury and subsequently form a clot that closes the open vessel. The bleeding then stops.
The problem is that such a formation of a blood clot can, under certain circumstances, also occur inside blood vessels, which then become blocked.
If this happens in a vessel supplying the heart with oxygen, a heart attack follows.
Acylpyrin (the active ingredient acetylsalicylic acid) is a drug that is said to prevent platelets from clumping. Therefore it not only prevents heart attacks, but for example also strokes.
For this reason doctors prescribe daily aspirin to people who have already had a heart attack in the past or have an increased risk of one.
Risks of daily use of aspirin and other blood-thinning drugs
The use of aspirin and related blood-thinning drugs is now widespread practice, but many people are not even aware of possible side effects.
As Geoffrey S. Ginsburg, director of Duke’s Institute for Genomics, states:
“We have observed a non-negligible number of patients on aspirin who, despite it, ended up with a heart attack or stroke.”
Ginsburg and his team studied what really happens to people who regularly take blood-thinning drugs on a daily basis.
These drugs do work for some people, but not for a large number of people. Moreover, these drugs can have the following serious adverse effects:
1. Heart attack or stroke caused by a ruptured vessel
Blood-thinning drugs do prevent the formation of blood clots (one cause of heart attacks and strokes), but at the same time they increase the risk of internal bleeding (another cause of heart attacks and strokes).
In other words, these drugs thin the blood so much that it then causes a problem from the opposite end.
2. Bleeding in the intestinal tract
Acylpyrin and other blood-thinning drugs increase the risk of developing stomach ulcers.
If you have a bleeding ulcer in your stomach or intestines, these drugs can intensify the bleeding to a life-threatening level.
3. Allergic reactions
Reactions to the drugs range from mild to severe and sometimes even the type of allergy remains unknown. An allergy to acylpyrin can trigger a strong allergic reaction.
Acylpyrin may help some people, but it certainly does not apply to everyone. Fortunately, there are other ways to protect your heart using natural substances.
If you want to take safer alternatives instead of blood-thinning drugs, we have a few recommendations for you.
4 alternative natural blood thinners
Let’s take a closer look now at which foods and herbs you can use as a substitute for blood-thinning drugs.
1. Garlic
You won’t be surprised by the many medicinal properties of garlic. One of them is blood thinning and protective effects on the whole cardiovascular system.
Simply start adding garlic to your meals; you don’t need anything special for it.
2. Turmeric
Recent studies point to more than 600 health benefits of the Indian spice turmeric for our body, including prevention of heart attack and stroke.
The main active substance in turmeric is curcumin, which prevents platelets from forming blood clots in the vessels.
Turmeric can be added to almost any food. It can be consumed mixed directly in a glass of plain water.
3. Hydration
When you’re dehydrated your body lacks fluids. This causes vessels to constrict and the blood to thicken, which increases the risk of forming a blood clot.
Therefore such a simple thing as drinking a sufficient amount of fluids can protect you just like blood-thinning drugs and without their possible side effects.
4. Capsaicin
Capsaicin is the substance found in hot peppers, feferoni, and chili peppers. It is what gives them their characteristic spicy taste.
Many studies have demonstrated its effect on blood clotting, so it is an ideal means for the prevention of heart attack and stroke.
If you don’t like its taste, instead of consuming peppers there are now creams that deliver capsaicin into the body directly through the skin.
