Aspirin and the aging eye

Nutrition Health Review,  Wntr, 1990  

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Aspirin and the Aging Eye

Even though aspirin is considered safe, it does interfere with blood clotting to a small extent.

This, of course, is how a small daily dose of aspirin helps to prevent coronary heart attacks. It reduces the likelihood that a coronary artery, already narrowed with cholesterol deposits, will become plugged with a clot. On the negative side, a letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine (318:1126, 1988) points out, the slowing of bloof clotting results in much greater blood loss due to macular degeneration, which could be disastrous.

In macular degeneration, certain arteries of the retina (light-sensing layer at the back of the eye) become abnormal and leak blood which disrupts the delicate visual tissues. Since aspirin can accentuate such bleeding and make matters worse, those who have any macular degeneration should consult their eye doctors before deciding to take it.

COPYRIGHT 1990 Vegetus Publications
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group