Study compares formulations of 3 aspirin types

For many years, it has been known that aspirin is beneficial to patients suffering heart attacks and near-heart attacks. But which of the many different types of aspirin is likely to help the most?

A group of researchers led by Dr. Sean Nordt from the University of California, San Diego gave three different types of aspirin to a group of volunteer research subjects: regular aspirin swallowed whole, regular aspirin chewed and swallowed, and chewable aspirin chewed and swallowed. Blood levels of aspirin were then measured, to see which route led to the highest aspirin levels in the body.

The chewable aspirin consistently showed greater and more rapid absorption than the regular aspirin, whether swallowed whole or chewed. This seemingly quite simple finding could lead to improvements in the care of heart attack patients.

The presentation, entitled "Comparison Of Three Aspirin Formulations" will be given by Dr. Sean Nordt in the Cardiovascular forum at the 2009 SAEM Annual Meeting at the Sheraton New Orleans on Friday, May 15 at 1:00 PM. Abstracts are published in Vol. 16, No. 4, Supplement 1, April 2009 of Academic Emergency Medicine, the official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

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