A man, Mr. K, came into the pharmacy over the weekend in desperate search for baby aspirin. 

 

Mr. K told me a very detailed story how his wife went with him to the doctor’s office.  The doctor said he should take one baby aspirin every day to help his heart health and have regular aspirin around to chew if he is having a heart attack.  He told me his wife sent him to the store with a note. 

 

He found the note in his back pocket –uncrumpled it and showed it to me.  Darned if it didn’t say, “Honey, Go to the pharmacy and get BABY and REGULAR ASPIRIN.”  It was then followed by a couple other items and chores (including fix the rocking chair J).

 

We had a talk about baby aspirin –which is, tricky enough, not actually for babies.  (Aspirin is usually avoided in children younger then 15 years old).  Baby aspirin is actually “Low-dose aspirin” or more accurately, “Aspirin 81mg.”

 

So, the doctor should have asked his patient to start taking one 81mg aspirin every day.

 

As for “Regular aspirin,” the doctor actually meant, “Regular-dose aspirin or Aspirin 325mg.”

 

Helpful Hint: Studies have shown that if a person chews a tablet of aspirin 325mg (or 4 tablets of aspirin 81mg), it can limit damage that happens during a heart attack (of course, you still call 9-1-1!). 

 

Mr. K chose a generic chewable version of aspirin 81mg but not after we decoded what enteric coating meant…

 

Enteric coated or buffered means that there is a special coating on the aspirin tablet that will delay the release of the medicine until it reaches the small intestine.  Aspirin can bother the belly –so the coating can help lessen the irritation.

 

However, because it delays the release of aspirin –it is much, much, much better to chew a non-buffered aspirin during a heart attack. 

 

He left satisfied and said he will share all the info with his wife.  Of course, he did ask for my card, just in case his wife needed to double checkJ.

 

Daily 81mg aspirin is often recommended for men and women that have had a heart attack or are at high risk for heart disease.  High risk includes people that smoke tobacco or have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes. 

 

Daily aspirin 81mg is not all good, though –there are side effects and drug interactions.  You definitely want to talk with your physician before you start taking one.

 

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