Does Aspirin Affect Blood Pressure: What You Can Believe

There are many rumors that aspirin can be taken to help normalize blood pressure. Is it so? I decided to do my own research.

Aspirin was originally produced in powder form. At the turn of the century, it was mixed with starch to make tablets that dissolve easily in water. This contributed to the growing popularity of acetylsalicylic acid among doctors and patients.

Aspirin is the generic name for acetylsalicylic acid, one of the oldest medicines known to mankind. Willow bark and leaf extracts containing this compound have been used since the days of Hippocrates. The synthesis of salicylic acid was carried out at the end of the 19th century. Since then, it has become one of the most widely used anti-inflammatory and antipyretic agents and, like the antibiotic penicillin, has revolutionized medicine.

Aspirin - action

Chemical processes are constantly taking place in every cell of the body. When the surrounding membrane is damaged, one of the unsaturated fatty acids, arachidonic acid, is released. With the help of an enzyme called cyclooxygenase, it is immediately converted to prostaglandins (released by both mechanical and chemical stimuli). These substances alert the body to cellular damage and are involved, among other things, in the transmission of pain and the formation of inflammation and fever.

Acetylsalicylic acid can suppress the secretion of cyclooxygenase and thus stop the release of prostaglandins. This is why it works so well as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever. However, this does not end there. Well, prostaglandins are produced in many parts of the body and wherever aspirin can be involved in suppressing them. Thanks to this, it can prevent blood from clotting by thinning it and blocking pain.

Effect on blood pressure

In the course of research, scientists have found that by taking aspirin before bedtime, you bring blood pressure back to normal, and it stops rising. But if taken in the morning or afternoon, no change will occur.

Doctors explain that if you take this drug regularly, it will not increase, but it will not lower your blood pressure, but it will thin the blood and have a beneficial effect on its movement through the vessels, lowering their tone. As a result, the vessels will expand, the speed of blood movement and pressure will decrease.

The opinion of doctors

Experts do not prohibit the use of aspirin for hypertensive patients, but warn that the dosage should be small. But it is forbidden to use it on an ongoing basis. If there is a violation of blood clotting, it is better to refuse this medication altogether. If the doctor prescribes aspirin treatment for hypertension, it should be under his supervision and include other drugs.

Aspirin is contraindicated in gastric diseases, because acetylsalicylic acid destroys its mucous membrane and can lead to internal bleeding.

The doctor may prescribe aspirin for you only as a preventive measure for complications, but he will not treat hypertension with aspirin. He can prescribe it as an adjuvant in combination with other drugs.

But in the case of the treatment of heart attack and stroke, as well as for their prevention, the doctor may prescribe you a course of taking aspirin, because it dilates blood vessels and relieves headaches.

How often do you take aspirin, and in what cases does it help you?