Will I need aspirin?
If you have symptoms of a stroke or TIA, such as sudden weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, difficulty speaking or blurring or loss of vision, you should get medical attention immediately. You may then have a number of tests to confirm the diagnosis. In hospital, a brain scan (CT or MRI) will be able to show whether your stroke or TIA was caused by a blocked artery (ischaemic stroke) or a burst blood vessel (haemorrhagic stroke). The scan can detect blood cells from a bleed in the brain for up to about 10 days after the haemorrhage.Once the doctors have seen your brain scan, they will then be able to decide whether or not you should take aspirin.
How much aspirin?
If a brain scan or other tests show that you could benefit from aspirin, your doctor will advise you how much to take and how often. Studies have now shown that, following an ischaemic stroke or TIA, aspirin in a daily dose of 50-300mg can reduce the risk of further strokes and TIAs by as much as one third. There is continuing debate over precisely which dose of aspirin is best, but most doctors in the UK favour the lower daily dose because it causes fewer side effects. Future trials may answer the question.Recent studies have shown that a combination of two drugs – aspirin and modified-release dipyridamole – may be even more effective than aspirin alone. Dipyridamole works on blood clot formation in a slightly different way from aspirin, but the effects are the same. Some people are also advised to take blood-thinning drugs such as warfarin, but the effects of these will need to be carefully monitored.
Is aspirin safe?
Like all drugs aspirin has unwanted, as well as beneficial, effects. The main one is irritation of, and/or bleeding from, the lining of the stomach. For this reason aspirin is not suitable for people who have peptic ulcers. Aspirin is also not suitable for people who have an allergy to aspirin or other similar medications, asthma, kidney disease or bleeding disorders.Though most people do not have any problems with aspirin, in the last few years another anti-clotting drug, called clopidogrel, has come on to the market. It is often given to people who cannot tolerate aspirin or modified-release dipyridamole, or who have had a TIA or other ischaemic disease despite having been treated with aspirin.
Whichever anti-clotting drug you take, you will probably need to take it for life. As with most medications, you should not stop taking it without first discussing it with your doctor.
(published with permission in writing from:http://www.stroke.org.uk)
