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Aspirin

Also indexed as: Acetylsalicylic Acid, Angettes 75, Apo-ASA, ASA, Asaphen, Aspro, Aspro Clear, Beecham Aspirin, Beecham’s Powder Tablets, Boots Back Pain Relief, Caprin, Entrophen, Fynnon Calcium Aspirin, Maximum Strength Aspro Clear, MSD Enteric Coated ASA, Novasen, Nu-Seals Aspirin

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Aspirin is a drug that reduces swelling, pain, and fever. In recent years, long-term low-dose aspirin has been recommended to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. In the future aspirin may be recommended to reduce the risk of some cancers. Reye’s syndrome, a rare but serious illness affecting children and teenagers, has been associated with aspirin use. To prevent Reye’s syndrome, people should consult their doctor and/or chemist before giving aspirin, aspirin-containing products, or herbs containing salicylates to children and teenagers.

Summary of Interactions with Vitamins, Herbs, and Foods
In some cases, a herb or supplement may appear in more than one category, which may seem contradictory. For clarification, read the full article for details about the summarized interactions.

Beneficial May Be Beneficial: Depletion or interference—The medication may deplete or interfere with the absorption or function of the nutrient. Taking these nutrients may help replenish them.

Folic acid*

Iron

Vitamin C

Vitamin B12*

Zinc
Beneficial May Be Beneficial: Supportive interaction—Taking these supplements may support or otherwise help your medication work better.

Cayenne

Liquorice
Avoid Avoid: Adverse interaction—Avoid these supplements when taking this medication because taking them together may cause undesirable or dangerous results.

Coleus*

Ginkgo biloba

Vitamin E
Side effect reduction/prevention

None known
Reduced drug absorption/bioavailability

None known

An asterisk (*) next to an item in the summary indicates that the interaction is supported only by weak, fragmentary, and/or contradictory scientific evidence.

Interactions with Dietary Supplements

Folic acid
Increased loss of folic acid in urine has been reported in rheumatoid arthritis patients.1 Reduced blood levels of the vitamin have also been reported in people with arthritis who take aspirin.2 Some doctors recommend for people with arthritis who regularly take aspirin to supplement 400 mcg of folic acid per day—an amount frequently found in multivitamins.

Iron
Gastro-intestinal (GI) bleeding is a common side effect of taking aspirin. A person with aspirin-induced GI bleeding may not always have symptoms (like stomach pain) or obvious signs of blood in their stool. Such bleeding causes loss of iron from the body. Long-term blood loss due to regular use of aspirin can lead to iron-deficiency anaemia. Lost iron can be replaced with iron supplements. Iron supplementation should be used only in cases of iron deficiency verified with laboratory tests.

Vitamin B12
In a study of people hospitalised with heart disease, those who had been taking aspirin were nearly twice as likely as nonusers to have a low or marginally low blood level of vitamin B12.3 That finding by itself does not prove that taking aspirin causes vitamin B12 deficiency. However, aspirin is known to damage the stomach in some cases, and the stomach plays a key role in vitamin B12 absorption (by secreting hydrochloric acid and intrinsic factor).

Vitamin C
Taking aspirin has been associated with increased loss of vitamin C in urine and has been linked to depletion of vitamin C.4 People who take aspirin regularly should consider supplementing at least a few hundred milligrams of vitamin C per day. Such an amount is often found in a multivitamin.

Vitamin E
Although vitamin E is thought to act like a blood thinner, very little research has supported this idea. In fact, a double-blind trial found that very high amounts of vitamin E do not increase the effects of the powerful blood-thinning drug warfarin.5 Nonetheless, a double-blind study of smokers found the combination of aspirin plus 50 IU per day of vitamin E led to a statistically significant increase in bleeding gums compared with taking aspirin alone (affecting one person in three versus one in four with just aspirin).6 The authors concluded that vitamin E might, especially if combined with aspirin, increase the risk of bleedings.

Zinc
Intake of 3 grams of aspirin per day has been shown to decrease blood levels of zinc.7 Aspirin appeared to increase loss of zinc in the urine in this study, and the effect was noted beginning three days after starting aspirin.

Interactions with Herbs

Cayenne (Capsicum annuum, Capsicum frutescens)
Cayenne contains the potent chemical capsaicin, which acts on special nerves found in the stomach lining. In two rat studies, researchers reported that stimulation of these nerves by capsaicin might protect against the damage aspirin can cause to the stomach.8 9 In a study of 18 healthy human volunteers, a single dose of 600 mg aspirin taken after ingestion of 20 grams of chilli pepper was found to cause less damage to the lining of the stomach and duodenum (part of the small intestine) than aspirin without chilli pepper.10 However, cayenne may cause stomach irritation in some individuals with stomach inflammation (gastritis) or ulcers and should be used with caution.

Coleus (Coleus forskohlii)
There are theoretical grounds to believe that coleus could increase the effect of anti-platelet medicines such as aspirin, possibly leading to spontaneous bleeding. However, this has never been documented to occur. Controlled human research is needed to determine whether people taking aspirin should avoid coleus.

Ginkgo biloba
There have been two case reports suggesting a possible interaction between ginkgo and an anticoagulant drug or aspirin leading to increased bleeding.11 12 In the first, a 78-year-old woman taking warfarin developed bleeding within the brain following the concomitant use of ginkgo (the amount used is not given in the case report). In the second, a 70-year-old man developed slow bleeding behind the iris of the eye (spontaneous hyphema) following use of ginkgo (80 mg per day) together with aspirin (325 mg per day). While this interaction is unproven, anyone taking anticoagulant medications or aspirin should inform their physician before using ginkgo.

Liquorice (DGL) (Glycyrrhiza glabra)
The flavonoids found in the extract of liquorice known as DGL (deglycyrrhizinated liquorice) are helpful for avoiding the irritating actions aspirin has on the stomach and intestines. One study found that 350 mg of chewable DGL taken together with each dose of aspirin reduced gastro-intestinal bleeding caused by the aspirin.13 DGL has been shown in controlled human research to be as effective as drug therapy (cimetidine) in healing stomach ulcers.14 One animal study also showed that DGL and the acid-blocking drug Tagamet® (cimetidine) work together more effectively than either alone for preventing negative actions of aspirin.15

References

1. Buist RA. Drug-nutrient interactions—an overview. Intl Clin Nutr Rev 1984;4(3):114 [review].

2. Alter HJ, Zvaifler MJ, Rath CE. Interrelationship of rheumatoid arthritis, folic acid and aspirin. Blood 1971;38:405–16.

3. Van Oijen MGH, Laheij RJF, Peters WHM, et al. Association of aspirin use with vitamin B12 deficiency (results of the BACH study). Am J Cardiol 2004;94:975–7.

4. Coffey G, Wilson CWM. Ascorbic acid deficiency and aspirin-induced haematemesis. BMJ 1975;I:208.

5. Kim JM, White RH. Effect of vitamin E on the anticoagulant response to warfarin. Am J Cardiol 1996;77:545–6.

6. Liede KE, Haukka JK, Saxén LM, Heinon OP. Increased tendency towards gingival bleeding caused by joint effect of alpha-tocopherol supplementation and acetylsalicylic acid. Ann Med 1998;30:542–6.

7. Ambanelli U, Ferraccioli GF, Serventi G, Vaona GL. Changes in serum and urinary zinc induced by ASA and indomethacin. Scand J Rheumatol 1982;11:63–4.

8. Abdel Salam OME, Mószik G, Szolcsányi J. Studies on the effect of intragastric capsaicin on gastric ulcer and on the prostacyclin-induced cytoprotection in rats. Pharmacol Res 1995;32:209–15.

9. Holzer P, Pabst MA, Lippe IT. Intragastric capsaicin protects against aspirin-induced lesion formation and bleeding in the rat gastric mucosa. Gastroenterology 1989;96:1425–33.

10. Yeoh KG, Kang JY, Yap I, et al. Chili protects against aspirin-induced gastroduodenal mucosal injury in humans. Dig Dis Sci 1995;40:580–3.

11. Matthews MK. Association of Ginkgo biloba with intracerebral hemorrhage [letter]. Neurology 1998;50:1933.

12. Rosenblatt M, Mindell J. Spontaneous hyphema associated with ingestion of Ginkgo biloba extract [letter]. N Engl J Med 1997;336:1108.

13. Rees WDW, Rhodes J, Wright JE, et al. Effect of deglycyrrhizinated liquorice on gastric mucosal damage by aspirin. Scand J Gastroenterol 1979;14:605–7.

14. Morgan AG, McAdam WAF, Pascoo C, Darnborough A. Comparison between cimetidine and Caved-S in the treatment of gastric ulceration, and subsequent maintenance therapy. Gut 1982;23:545–51.

15. Bennett A, Clark-Wibberley T, et al. Aspirin-induced gastric mucosal damage in rats: Cimetidine and deglycyrrhizinated liquorice together give greater protection than low doses of either drug alone. J Pharm Pharmacol 1980;32:151.