regular aspirin use linked to blindness

[burymecloser]

Long-term aspirin 'blindness link'

People who regularly take aspirin for many years, such as those with heart problems, are more likely to develop a form of blindness, researchers say.

A study on 2,389 people, in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, showed aspirin takers had twice the risk of "wet" age-related macular degeneration.

The disease damages the 'sweet spot' in the retina, obscuring details in the centre of a patient's field of vision.

...

One in 10 people in the study, conducted at the University of Sydney, were taking aspirin at least once a week. On average the participants were in their mid-60s.

Eye tests were performed after five, 10 and 15 years.

By the end of the study, the researchers showed that 9.3% of patients taking aspirin developed wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) compared with 3.7% of patients who did not take aspirin.

Their report said: "The increased risk of [wet] AMD was detected only after 10 or 15 years, suggesting that cumulative dosing is important."

Great. Ibuprofen damages your stomach, acetaminophen damages your stomach, and aspirin makes you blind. This is why the only thing I use for pain relief is heroin.

Also, just to be clear:

For patients at risk of cardio-vascular disease, the health risks of stopping or not prescribing aspirin are much higher than those of developing wet AMD.

 

[Lark]

That's curious because al the research I'm familiar with indicated that aspirin was a wonder drug and cured pretty much everything, especially if it was taken regularly, it was supposed to have preventative qualities with reference to cancer and such.

 

[Stanton Moore]

Most drugs effect more than the system they are intended to effect, so I'm not that surprised. Also, this new knowledge comes from meta-analysis of data, and it might not have been knowable in another way. I think we'll see lots of this kind of connection in the future as medical technology and data gathering become more sophisticated.

 

[ndovjtjcaqidthi]

I take aspirin all the time because of constant headaches.

 

[1487610420]

I was reminded of this

 

[Mole]

No more low dose aspirin for me.

 

[sprinkles]

Why do people talk about aspirin like it's some kind of candy that everyone takes?

How do they know that it's not people who will end up with AMD being more likely to take aspirin?