Aspirin: The Wonder Drug
Aspirin: The Wonder Drug
Aspirin (medically known as acetylsalicylic acid) is a common household medication for pain (analgesic), fever (antipyretic), and inflammation (anti-inflammatory). This "simple" and inexpensive drug is so much underrated and practically taken for granted. Aspirin is really a versatile drug, with a lot of uses, much more than the lay public realizes. Inn the United States alone about 20 tons of aspirin is used each year.
How did aspirin come about?
In 1827, Leroux of France first discovered salicin, an active ingredient in the willow bark, and in 1838, Piria produced salicylic acid from salicin. In 1899, Dreser introduced acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) into medicine. This has been in popular use since then.
Why is aspirin a Wonder Drug?
Aspirin was a labeled a Miracle Drug or a Wonder Drug when it was first introduced more than 100 years ago, and continues to deserve such a prestigious position in the physician's armamentarium because of its versatility. Other Miracle or Wonder Drugs when they were first introduced include Penicillin, Steroids, Chemo-therapeutic Agents for cancers, and lately, Viagra, for male erectile dysfunction.
How is aspirin versatile?
Besides being used as an analgesic for pain of various causes (headaches, body aches, arthritis, dysmenorrhea, neuralgia,gout, etc), and for febrile states, aspirin is also useful in the treatment of rheumatic disease, and as an anti-platelet (to thin the blood and prevent blood clots) in coronary (heart) artery and in the deep veins in the legs and pelvis. There have also been articles written in the medical literature postulating reduction in the incidence of colon cancer among those people regularly taking aspirin at a certain dose. Many physicians and patients today take low-dose aspirin (baby aspirin or 81 mg.) daily to reduce the chances of getting a heart attack and stroke by its anti-platelet (blood thinning) action.
Are there other known uses for aspirin?
Aspirin has also been used with success in the treatment of children with Bartter's Syndrome, and also in enhancing the closure of Patent Ductus Arteriosus, an abnormal connection between the aorta (main artery connected to the heart) and the pulmonary artery (to the lungs) in the newborn. If the PDA does not close normally, surgery may be needed to ligate it (close with sutures) before the child starts school.
Is coated aspirin less irritating to the stomach?
Yes, enteric-coated aspirin is much less irritating to the stomach, since the coating allows the aspirin tablet to remain almost intact while in the stomach and travel to the small intestine where the coating and the aspirin dissolve and get absorbed into the blood stream. This minimizes stomach ulcers but does not totally prevent them. Buffered aspirin (one that has anti-acid) also lessens stomach irritation. The bleeding from aspirin ingestion could be serious. This is why anyone interested in taking aspirin must consult a physician before actually taking it.
Why is aspirin being prescribed for heart attack and stroke prevention?
Aspirin, as we stated earlier, thins the blood by preventing platelet aggregation. Platelets are blood component that plays a role in blood thickening or clot formation. When they aggregate (clump together) blood thickens and clots form. Clots tend to clog arteries and veins. When arteries to the heart (coronary) get severely blocked by clots, heart attack occurs, and when this clogging happens to the arteries to the brain, stroke happens. As simple as aspirin, this wonder drug, plays a very vital role in these conditions, together with a change in lifestyle (no smoking, low cholesterol diet, regular exercises, etc.) to maintain a thinner blood condition.
Is aspirin safe for children?
Pediatricians all over the world have for almost 3 decades discontinued prescribing aspirin for children for pain and fever, because aspirin has been implicated in the occurrence of Reye's Syndrome in children following a viral (upper respiratory or gastrointestinal) infection, which syndrome could be fatal. For fever or pain, physicians now prefer to prescribe acetaminophen (like Tylenol) or Ibuprofen, but for some specific illnesses (like Kawasaki Disease, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, etc.) aspirin is still being used effectively by Pediatricians.
Is aspirin safe for adults who self-medicate?
While occasionally taking two tablets of aspirin for ordinary headache or muscle aches and pains is fairly safe (unless one has a stomach ulcer or a history of ulcer, or is on blood thinner), taking aspirin on a long term basis for prophylaxis or for any condition should only be done under the supervision of a physician.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Jett Travolta and Kawasaki Disease!
Jett Travolta (John Travolta’s Son) and Kawasaki Disease
A Closer Look at What Ailed Jett Travolta
Fri., Jan. 2, 2009 4:55 PM PST by Natalie Finn
Lucky Mat/Getty Images
Kelly Preston has said that she believes toxic cleaning products in her family's home caused her son's health problems early in life.
Jett, her 16-year-old son with husband John Travolta, died suddenly Friday morning after suffering a seizure while on vacation with his familiy in the Bahamas. He was hospitalized when he was 15 months old with Kawasaki disease, a rare illness that mainly affects young children. It's treatable but can have unforeseen complications, including lasting damage to the heart.
The boy's body will remain at Rand Memorial Hospital in the Bahamas pending an autopsy.
The direct cause of Kawasaki disease remains unknown, but some studies have shown a possible link between the disease and exposure to carpet-cleaning chemicals or living in an area close to a stagnant body of water, according to research gathered by Children's Hospital Boston's Kawasaki Disease Program.
Studies also found that the disease is reported more frequently among children from higher socioeconomic groups, of which Jett Travolta was certainly a member. (Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys announced last month that his 6-year-old son, Baylee, has been diagnosed with Kawasaki disease.)
In 2002, Preston described to Montel Williams what the family went through when Jett got sick.
"Jett's whole immune system shut down, and he got really sick with high fevers, 104 and 105," she said. "I kept taking him into the doctor and they didn't know what was wrong with him. He developed a rash on his body, swollen lymph glands—it was horrible."
Doctors at Children's Hospital Los Angeles ultimately diagnosed Jett with Kawasaki disease.
"And lo and behold, they don't know how you acquire it, and lo and behold, there were tons of kids in the ICU with Kawasaki's," Preston said. "I'd never even heard of it. And they give you a questionnaire with about 50 questions on it. I went and talked to everybody— every single parent—and everyone had cleaned their carpets in the last couple of weeks. That was one of the questions. So I don't know what the correlation is...I'm just saying we need to know more."
Because of Jett's asthma and allergies, Preston told Williams, "We don't have any chemicals in the house. We're 90 percent organic, though there's some canned foods, a little bit of junk food here and there."
Also in 2002, Preston taped a helpful-hints video for The Oprah Winfrey Show, suggesting ways to childproof the cleaning products in the home.
"When I learned I was pregnant [with now 8-year-old Ella Bleu], the first thing I wanted to do was to create the perfect place to bring my baby home to," Preston said.
"I had all of this nesting energy. I'm sure you know that feeling. But sometimes when we think we are doing the right thing, like scrubbing the nursery spotless, even cleaning the carpet, we are actually inviting dangerous chemicals into our baby's world. Even what these chemicals leave behind can cause problems, so hold off on using so many cleaners."
The Children's Health Environmental Coalition has also recommended that children stay out of a house where the carpet has just been cleaned for at least four hours.
The debate over the exact cause of Kawasaki disease continues, and recent theories have focused on possible bacterial causes and whether children can have a genetic predisposition for infection.
"There is something about the act of shampooing that indirectly caused the outbreak," Dr. David Morens, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md., told the Austin American-Statesman in 2006.
"It had nothing to do with the chemicals in the shampoo or rug fibers, but more likely with bacteria released into the air. There are whole ecosystems in a carpet...bacteria, spores and fungi that live and grow there."
While common symptoms include a high fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes, cardiac complications can include inflammation of blood vessels in the coronary arteries, aneurysms and, in some cases, heart attacks.
Seizures have also been linked to Kawasaki, according to Aetna's InteliHealth site.
In June 2007, Travolta's legal camp fired back at rumors that the actor and his wife were refusing to publicly admit that Jett had autism and covering it up by claiming the boy had Kawasaki disease instead.
"The Travoltas are wonderful, loving parents, and their priority is their children," a Travolta attorney said. "They have and they continue to take the best possible care of their children. To suggest anything to the contrary is very hurtful to a loving family and also would be false and defamatory."
A Closer Look at What Ailed Jett Travolta
Fri., Jan. 2, 2009 4:55 PM PST by Natalie Finn
Lucky Mat/Getty Images
Kelly Preston has said that she believes toxic cleaning products in her family's home caused her son's health problems early in life.
Jett, her 16-year-old son with husband John Travolta, died suddenly Friday morning after suffering a seizure while on vacation with his familiy in the Bahamas. He was hospitalized when he was 15 months old with Kawasaki disease, a rare illness that mainly affects young children. It's treatable but can have unforeseen complications, including lasting damage to the heart.
The boy's body will remain at Rand Memorial Hospital in the Bahamas pending an autopsy.
The direct cause of Kawasaki disease remains unknown, but some studies have shown a possible link between the disease and exposure to carpet-cleaning chemicals or living in an area close to a stagnant body of water, according to research gathered by Children's Hospital Boston's Kawasaki Disease Program.
Studies also found that the disease is reported more frequently among children from higher socioeconomic groups, of which Jett Travolta was certainly a member. (Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys announced last month that his 6-year-old son, Baylee, has been diagnosed with Kawasaki disease.)
In 2002, Preston described to Montel Williams what the family went through when Jett got sick.
"Jett's whole immune system shut down, and he got really sick with high fevers, 104 and 105," she said. "I kept taking him into the doctor and they didn't know what was wrong with him. He developed a rash on his body, swollen lymph glands—it was horrible."
Doctors at Children's Hospital Los Angeles ultimately diagnosed Jett with Kawasaki disease.
"And lo and behold, they don't know how you acquire it, and lo and behold, there were tons of kids in the ICU with Kawasaki's," Preston said. "I'd never even heard of it. And they give you a questionnaire with about 50 questions on it. I went and talked to everybody— every single parent—and everyone had cleaned their carpets in the last couple of weeks. That was one of the questions. So I don't know what the correlation is...I'm just saying we need to know more."
Because of Jett's asthma and allergies, Preston told Williams, "We don't have any chemicals in the house. We're 90 percent organic, though there's some canned foods, a little bit of junk food here and there."
Also in 2002, Preston taped a helpful-hints video for The Oprah Winfrey Show, suggesting ways to childproof the cleaning products in the home.
"When I learned I was pregnant [with now 8-year-old Ella Bleu], the first thing I wanted to do was to create the perfect place to bring my baby home to," Preston said.
"I had all of this nesting energy. I'm sure you know that feeling. But sometimes when we think we are doing the right thing, like scrubbing the nursery spotless, even cleaning the carpet, we are actually inviting dangerous chemicals into our baby's world. Even what these chemicals leave behind can cause problems, so hold off on using so many cleaners."
The Children's Health Environmental Coalition has also recommended that children stay out of a house where the carpet has just been cleaned for at least four hours.
The debate over the exact cause of Kawasaki disease continues, and recent theories have focused on possible bacterial causes and whether children can have a genetic predisposition for infection.
"There is something about the act of shampooing that indirectly caused the outbreak," Dr. David Morens, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md., told the Austin American-Statesman in 2006.
"It had nothing to do with the chemicals in the shampoo or rug fibers, but more likely with bacteria released into the air. There are whole ecosystems in a carpet...bacteria, spores and fungi that live and grow there."
While common symptoms include a high fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes, cardiac complications can include inflammation of blood vessels in the coronary arteries, aneurysms and, in some cases, heart attacks.
Seizures have also been linked to Kawasaki, according to Aetna's InteliHealth site.
In June 2007, Travolta's legal camp fired back at rumors that the actor and his wife were refusing to publicly admit that Jett had autism and covering it up by claiming the boy had Kawasaki disease instead.
"The Travoltas are wonderful, loving parents, and their priority is their children," a Travolta attorney said. "They have and they continue to take the best possible care of their children. To suggest anything to the contrary is very hurtful to a loving family and also would be false and defamatory."
Baylee Littrell and Kawasaki Disease!
Backstreet Brian Littrell’s Boy Has Kawasaki Disease December 2008
Backstreet Brian Littrell's Boy Has Coronary Disease
Mon., Dec. 22, 2008 11:17 AM PST by Breanne L. Heldman
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
Backstreet Boys' Brian Littrell has been dealing with a larger than life situation recently.
The boy bander and his wife Leighanne's 6-year-old son, Baylee, spent the past week at the Scottish Rite children's hospital in Atlanta. He was released Saturday after being diagnosed with atypical Kawasaki disease, according to the singer's website. Baylee entered the care center with a variety of symptoms, including strep throat, erythema multiforme and hand, foot and mouth disease.
"After receiving a biopsy, blood tests, an EKG and two echocardiograms, Baylee was finally diagnosed with A-Typical [sic] Kawasaki Disease," Littrell writes. "We would like to stress A-Typical because Baylee did not have textbook symptoms of any of the viruses they thought he had.
"Kawasaki Disease causes inflammation in the coronary arteries as well as the walls of the small and medium sized arteries throughout the body," Littrell explains. "Unfortunately, Baylee's coronary arteries were affected. He received an IVIG, which is a treatment to bring down the inflammation in his coronary arteries."
A pediatric cardiologist will be keeping a close eye on the singer's son for the next six to eight weeks to ensure the treatment was effective.
According to Wikipedia's entry on Kawasaki disease, "with early treatment, rapid recovery from acute symptoms can be expected and the risk of coronary artery aneurysms greatly reduced."
"We want to thank everyone who prayed for us as well as all of the emails and phone calls," the Littrells write. "We are humbled by the love and compassion that people have for our son all over the world, thank you!"
(Originally published Dec. 22, 2008 at 9:52 a.m
KD WEBSITES
KD Links (kdfoundation.org)
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KD Links
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FamilyKD Discussion Forum - An independently hosted and managed KD discussion forum free of advertising and pop-up messages.A Kawasaki Heart - A web site and message board of a teenager who had KD twice.KawasakiDisease.co.uk -The web site of a young boy in the UK who had KD in March 2005.Kawasaki Disease Foundation of South Africa - An organization started by a KD parent in South Africa.Kawasaki Disease Fund at Children's Memorial Hospital - A coalition of parents and medical professionals dedicated to raising funds for Kawasaki disease research at Children's Memorial Hospital.Kawasaki Disease Canada - A parent group dedicated to advancing KD awareness throughout Canada.Kawasaki Disease Foundation AustraliaErin's WorldMedicalUCSD KD Program - A very informative site with an overview, parent guide, photographs, and multi-language fact sheets. Find out about research being conducted at the University of California San Diego. Participants in important promising studies are urgently needed.Kawasaki Disease, A Brief History - A unique article about the history of Kawasaki Disease published in Pediatrics.American Heart Association - Visit the AHA web site and search for "Kawasaki Disease" to find other very informative articles.Recurrent skin peeling following Kawasaki Disease, ADC - An article about skin peeling from Kawasaki Disease.The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - A good overview for parents whose children have been recently diagnosed.Carpet Cleaners and Kawasaki Disease - An article about Kawasaki Disease by the Children's Health Environmental Coalition.MayoClinic.com - A comprehensive overview of Kawasaki disease including symptoms, causes, treatment, and coping skills.Kawasaki Disease Research Project - A historical analysis of Kawasaki Disease jointly led by teams from Emory University and the University of California San Diego.ResearchKD Research Project - A joint research project of the Kawasaki Disease Foundation, University of California San Diego, and Emory University
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KD Links
..
..
FamilyKD Discussion Forum - An independently hosted and managed KD discussion forum free of advertising and pop-up messages.A Kawasaki Heart - A web site and message board of a teenager who had KD twice.KawasakiDisease.co.uk -The web site of a young boy in the UK who had KD in March 2005.Kawasaki Disease Foundation of South Africa - An organization started by a KD parent in South Africa.Kawasaki Disease Fund at Children's Memorial Hospital - A coalition of parents and medical professionals dedicated to raising funds for Kawasaki disease research at Children's Memorial Hospital.Kawasaki Disease Canada - A parent group dedicated to advancing KD awareness throughout Canada.Kawasaki Disease Foundation AustraliaErin's WorldMedicalUCSD KD Program - A very informative site with an overview, parent guide, photographs, and multi-language fact sheets. Find out about research being conducted at the University of California San Diego. Participants in important promising studies are urgently needed.Kawasaki Disease, A Brief History - A unique article about the history of Kawasaki Disease published in Pediatrics.American Heart Association - Visit the AHA web site and search for "Kawasaki Disease" to find other very informative articles.Recurrent skin peeling following Kawasaki Disease, ADC - An article about skin peeling from Kawasaki Disease.The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - A good overview for parents whose children have been recently diagnosed.Carpet Cleaners and Kawasaki Disease - An article about Kawasaki Disease by the Children's Health Environmental Coalition.MayoClinic.com - A comprehensive overview of Kawasaki disease including symptoms, causes, treatment, and coping skills.Kawasaki Disease Research Project - A historical analysis of Kawasaki Disease jointly led by teams from Emory University and the University of California San Diego.ResearchKD Research Project - A joint research project of the Kawasaki Disease Foundation, University of California San Diego, and Emory University
Travolta opens charity in memory of dead son
Travolta opens charity in memory of dead son
Travolta opens charity in memory of dead son
METRO NEWS SERVICES
February 24, 2009 John Travolta has launched a charity in memory of his dead son, femalefirst.co.uk reports. The Hollywood actor and his wife Kelly Preston — whose 16-year-old son Jett died from a seizure in January — have created the Jett Travolta Foundation to help children with medical and emotional needs.The 55-year-old star’s official website says: “The Foundation shall endeavour to use its resources specifically to assist and provide relief to children with vision, hearing, mobility, communication, behaviour learning impairments or other special medical, environmental, health or educational needs.”Jett was found lying motionless in a bathtub on Jan. 2 at his family’s Bahamas hotel. The teenager had a history of fits and it is believed he experienced a seizure and fell and hit his head.He was found by a caretaker and immediately rushed to a hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival. Jett was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease when he was two.
Travolta opens charity in memory of dead son
METRO NEWS SERVICES
February 24, 2009 John Travolta has launched a charity in memory of his dead son, femalefirst.co.uk reports. The Hollywood actor and his wife Kelly Preston — whose 16-year-old son Jett died from a seizure in January — have created the Jett Travolta Foundation to help children with medical and emotional needs.The 55-year-old star’s official website says: “The Foundation shall endeavour to use its resources specifically to assist and provide relief to children with vision, hearing, mobility, communication, behaviour learning impairments or other special medical, environmental, health or educational needs.”Jett was found lying motionless in a bathtub on Jan. 2 at his family’s Bahamas hotel. The teenager had a history of fits and it is believed he experienced a seizure and fell and hit his head.He was found by a caretaker and immediately rushed to a hospital, but was pronounced dead on arrival. Jett was diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease when he was two.
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