Does daily aspirin therapy work for everyone, and is it the right thing for you?

First of all, as always, you should arm yourself with information. You should know the benefits of daily aspirin therapy, as well as the risks of daily aspirin therapy.

What is daily aspirin therapy?

Daily aspirin therapy is a method of lowering the risk of heart attack and clot related strokes. It works just like it sounds, the patient takes one aspirin on a daily basis. Daily aspirin therapy works by interfering with your blood’s clotting ability. But there are serious side effects you should be aware of.

Side effects of daily aspirin therapy

• The possibility of a hemorrhagic stroke may be increased by daily aspirin therapy. While daily aspirin therapy may decrease your chances of a clot-related stroke, it could increase your risk of a hemorrhagic stroke.
• Gastrointestinal bleeding may be caused by daily aspirin therapy. This bleeding may be caused because the aspirin causes or irritates an already bleeding stomach ulcer.
• Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears may be caused by daily aspirin therapy and could eventually lead to hearing loss.

Will daily aspirin therapy work for you?

Surprisingly, medical studies have shown that daily aspirin therapy does not work for everyone.  Aspirin does not have the same effect on everyone; some people may not benefit from daily aspirin therapy. Fortunately, there is now a test you can take to find out if daily aspirin therapy will work for you.

The AspirinWorks Test can determine if aspirin is working to suppress the production of thromboxane, the chemical that causes the platelets to become sticky, indicating whether aspirin helping you or not.

Order the AspirinWorks Test 

HealthCheckUSA offers the AspirinWorks test directly to consumers. To order a test without a physician referral,  simply order the AspirinWorks test from HealthCheckUSA.com or call us toll free at 1 (800) 929-2044. We will send you the appropriate paperwork, which you simply take to the HealthCheckUSA affiliated lab of your choice without an appointment. A urine sample is collected and tested. Your confidential results are available on our Web site within days.

Before deciding if daily aspirin therapy is right for you, you should consult with a doctor. He or she will consider things such as your medical and family history, other medicines you are taking, etc. Even though aspirin is easily available, check with your doctor before starting daily aspirin therapy.

AIDS testing is a cut-and-dried reality for most of us lucky enough to be reading blogs on the Internet. We know what AIDS testing is, and we know when to get tested for AIDS. We know what it does, and we have a pretty good concept of the dangers and symptoms of AIDS.

We’re really, really fortunate.

Babalwa Tembani is a 21-year-old woman who lives in Cape Town, South Africa. At the age of 14, she was raped by her HIV-positive uncle because he believed the myth that sex with a virgin would cure him of the virus. Now Babalwa is infected and must take anti-AIDS drugs regularly to stay alive.

If her uncle had known a little more about AIDS, Babalwa would probably be looking at a bright future, full of promise. Instead, her health will always be a black cloud hovering over her ominously.

A little knowledge goes a long way. HealthCheckUSA provides quality AIDS testing at affordable prices, but if a person doesn’t know that they need to be tested, they’ll never find out about their health, and they may end up curtailing their lives and those of the people they love. And that’s not the only ignorance that might prevent them from pursuing AIDS testing.

If a person believes some of the many myths about AIDS, they may fail to seek out the medical help that can save their lives. These myths are widespread; they’re not South African. For example:

• AIDS is nearly always fatal so testing is futile (in reality, quick diagnosis can save lives),
• AIDS can always be cured by modern medications, so there’s no reason to worry or rush to be tested (it can’t - success rates are about 80%),
• AIDS was developed by the government to kill minorities (a survey of Texan Latinos and blacks found that some 30% of that population believes this),
• AIDS doesn’t exist, and is a conspiracy to marginalize the gay community (untrue).

I’d be the last person to trumpet the glories of public education in the Western world. The First World can alarmingly rank last at things. (In fact, South Africa is considered a first-world country by many.) But I am grateful to the teachers, public health officials and medical professionals - and yes, even the news media - who have successfully educated me and my loved ones about AIDS testing. Although there’s still a daunting amount of myth-busting to be done, I’m privileged to have benefited from their guidance.

If only Babalwa Tembani were so lucky.

Employee drug testing, common throughout much of the business world, could have done wonders for Major League Baseball. An avid baseball fan, I’ve become increasingly frustrated with the Barry Bond’s controversy and all of the drama which surrounds it. Regardless of whether Barry is innocent or guilty, Major League Baseball could have avoided this public relations black eye if it had done something that the business world, and the rest of sports, has done for years: employee drug testing. Before 2002, the MLB did not test for steroid use among its players. While the rest of the sporting world was cracking down on a wide variety of performance enhancers, baseball evidently believed its players to be on a higher moral ground. Or perhaps, more sinisterly, the Commissioner’s Office and the Player’s Union decided to turn a blind eye to steroid use in order to help the game regain its popularity. It isn’t rocket science that fans enjoy sensational performances. Increased scoring and home runs equates to increased ticket sales and revenue. But it does so at a high price: the integrity of the game. Through the absence of strict drug testing policies, the past ten years have seen baseball’s home run records assaulted. In 1998, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa both passed Roger Maris’ single season home run record. Today, McGwire is still waiting to get into the hall of fame and has all but admitted to taking steroids. Sammy Sosa still plays on, but he too is tainted with the “steroid user” legacy. And soon there will be Barry Bonds, all-time home run leader. But what does that record really mean if it was achieved through performance enhancing drugs?

Which brings me back to my point about Major League Baseball’s role in all of this. The Commissioner and the Player’s Union ultimately failed fans, its player’s health and safety, and most importantly the game by not including steroids in its drug testing. The stories coming out from former players indicate that it was no secret, on any level, that the use of performance enhancing drugs including steroids was rampant. If the rest of the sports world or the corporate world followed the example of the MLB, what would this say about American society? That the ends, no matter what they are, justify the means? By ignoring the most prevalent drug use for its employees, Major League Baseball failed. What would the repercussions for the corporate world be if it failed employee drug tests for the most prevalent drugs in their respected lines of work? Say for example, if trucking companies did not run background checks for substance abuse or drug test employees? This would never fly. If Major League Baseball had included steroids in its employee drug testing, we would not be dealing with a Barry Bonds controversy today.