Asprin and decompreson

[Mark Chase]

Following on from my recent post covering decompression I was rightly picked up for casually mentioning Aspirin as a pre dive prophylactic treatment for DCI. I apologise for this flippant comment I like most people fall into the trap of not considering Aspirin a powerful drug but that is very wrong. It is a very powerful drug and can affect the body in many ways. Proper medical advice should be sought before choosing to take Aspirin prior to a dive.

A search on Aspirin Diving Decompression will uncover masses of dater on this subject. The best compact reply I have found so far is this one from Mark Ellyiot.

I strongly suggest any one considering this to read this carefully first.

http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~dee...pirindiver.htm

ATB

Mark Chase

[Foggy]

Interesting By-line : "If you need it take two, if you don't leave it in the car"

[NotDeadYet]

I never read through all the reference as it went on a bit so this might already have been said. Aspirin as well as its other properties is primarily a pain killer, do you want possible early aches and pains masked at a stage where a simple O2 treatment might be enough?

Just a thought, but that's why I don't use it. If you are worried about joint damage on deep dives (for which divers use ibuprofen) then buy a scooter.

Cheers,

Stuart

[Mark Chase]

Note thet Aspirin is used in the treatment of divers suffering from DCI and Ibroprofen isn't. I dont know if that meens any thing but at least you'r using a drug that the Hyperbaric docs use. That said they use it after the event not as a profilactic.

Also not that tests found that Aspirin did help with decompresion but that Ibroprofen didnt?

I chose to use Aspirin pre dive on deep long dives. I rightly or wrongly beleve that it helps especialy as I have blood presure on the high side of normal and I clot easily.

ATB

Mark Chase

[MattS]

I read the article, the author is pretty obviously pro-Aspirin. I just about managed to keep up but bio-chemistry is hardly my subject. This is a very personal view and very much as I understand it;

The problems of analgesics masking bend symptoms have already been covered.

Personally I avoid using any drugs while diving as they often have side effects, particularly when mixed with other drugs. For instance Ibuprofen mixed with Aspirin is thought to block Aspirins ability to prevent clotting.

I am wary of the prophylactic (preventative) use of drugs generally,as it can interfere with treatment you might need after a subsequent injury. For instance you take a Neurophen in the morning to treat a mild headache prior to a dive then you end up in the chamber with the staff denied the use of Aspirin as a treatment for the clot around the bubble. Alternatively if you used Aspirin to prevent DCI but you happened to suffer a serious barotrauma which needs surgery, the Aspirin in your blood stream will make the surgeon's task seriously more complicated than it already is. Even treatment for a relatively minor cut or gash gets complicated as the wound will remain open longer and the risk of infection increases dramatically. Aspirin binds to platelets permanently for the rest of the platelet's life so the anti-clotting properties last 7 to 10 days after the dose.

Aspirin is a fairly powerful acidic irritant. Prolonged or high doseage use commonly leads to ulcers and stomach bleeding as the acid literally burns the stomache lining. Pharmacists in the UK have been concerned for years that Aspirin's easy availability is adding to chronic health problems. Ibuprofen and other Aspirin alternatives (Panadol) were developed specifically to provide the benefits of Aspirin with less of the irritation and allergic reaction, however Aspirin remains the most effective platelet inhibitor.

The possible alternative to Aspirin as a platelet inhibitor appears to be a combination of vitamin E, vitamin C and magnesium supplements. A research project by Cambridge University in the late 90's concluded that Vitamin E lowered the risk of fatal heart attack by 47% and non-fatal by 75%. Additionally for technical divers Vitamin E is an anti-oxidant which inhibits lipid peroxidation, the process thought to cause acute Oxygen toxicity.

The story behind Aspirin is rather intriguing on a level that has little to do with medicine. The drug was 'invented' in Germany and is owned by the Bayer AG company. Bayer Corporation held the patent for Aspirin in the US until it was seized and sold off, to what is now Sterling Winthrop, by the US goverment around the outbreak of WW1. Needless to say the two companies have been in court ever since argueing over the huge revenues that Aspirin sales generate. The commercial success of Aspirin probably needs to be considered when choosing how you use it. Aspirin is a commodity item which a multi-national industry rides on the back of. The pro-Aspirin lobby is both vocal and aggressive, particualrly in the US.

Some more info is available here.
http://www.thisismidsussex.co.uk/mid...HOUGHT147.html