Why don't they sell soluble aspirin?

sophiecentaur

You can buy 'dispersible' aspirin tablets but not soluble ones. As we can absorb aspirin into out systems, I assume it is soluble (is that a reasonable assumption?)
Is the reason to do with spreading the dose over time or is it a 'chemical' reason?

Monique

Stability of the dissolved compound?

Simon Bridge

acetylsalicylic acid is soluble 1g to 100ml in water (37C) - yep.
Trouble is that it does not dissolve easily - to prepare a solution in water involves first dissolving in something like ethanol and purging with an inert gas... or prepreparing in an aqueous buffer.

Not the sort of thing we can expect people to do at home.

On top of that - the aqueous solutions don't keep (shelf-life of less than 1min)... so you can't just sell the solution.

http://www.caymanchem.com/pdfs/70260.pdf

sophiecentaur

OK thanks. That makes sense.
It does bother me, though, because, despite the 'dispersal' of modern tablets, there must be some risk to my gut.

Simon Bridge

Huh - in NZ, aspirin is almost never seen now.
I remember asking for "an aspirin" in a hospital once and the nurse acted as though I'd asked for hard drugs.

iirc. there's always a risk anyway - it's a side effect of the acid.
I found out a lot about it when a naturopath suggested slippery elm instead - it must be gentle because it's "natural".

There used to be a product in NZ called "aspro clear" that had really good dispersal. At some stage you have to look at "how much risk?" and "of what?" Compare with other risks. You know - the usual.

sophiecentaur

I seem to remember "aspro clear", too - but, from what's been said here, it may not have been what it implied. I can't see it in the shops nowadays.

When naturopaths use more statistics and fewer 'assurances', I may listen more to what they have to say. I just can't rely on what they say as much as I can on what mainstream medecine has to say. That old scientific method seems to deliver the goods pretty well as a rule. (I notice there aren't any successful satellite launches from the 'alternative Science' crowd).

As for the risk of using asprin, it's really a matter of following the statistics. There seems to be a lot of evidence that the risk of bad effects from aspirin seems less than the risk of blood clotting and its effect if you don't use aspirin. Of course, I realise that it could be just the wrong thing for me to keep taking but I have to believe in the statistics, in the wame way that I go along with the idea of immunisations etc..

Monique

FYI shelf stable solutions do exist: http://www.google.com/patents/US4975269

phinds

I do seem to recall that some people can't take aspirin because it upsets their stomach something fierce. Also, it's a mild blood thinner, which is why you'd always be told not to take any for a week before and after any surgery.

RabbitWho

I've read in a lot of places it's a good idea to take an aspirin a day (where I live it's sold in half a dose per pill). Of course none of these places were medical journals. Thoughts?

I find it funny that people could think of aspirin as a hard drug when most people here take paracetamol and codeine for headaches, one being hard on your liver and the other being highly addictive. You can buy both without prescription in a pharmacy, but the pharmacist will always warn you about the codeine.

Personally I find ibuprofen causes awful stomach pain but I'm fine with everything else.

sophiecentaur

In the UK aspirin is favoured as a prophylactic medicine for most of the 'aged' population to reduce risk of stroke. That's mainstream medics - not fringe. The stats are quite conclusive afaik. (Tiny daily dose)

Monique

The situation described by Simon Bridge was in a hospital, since aspirin has blood thinning properties it's good for a nurse to be critical: people who might be undergoing surgery should not take aspirin as a painkiller.

Simon Bridge

Can't have looked hard - a quick trawl of google scholar turns up AMA, AHA and ASA journals and the Lancet among many others.

I was going to provide a specific reference but they are too easy to find.

It's used for it's blood thinning effects against strike, cardiovascular disease, fecal blood secretion (geriatric), artheriothrombosis, hypertension ... spot the pattern? All in low doses.

Monique is right - I asked a physician later. It would have been OK for me but the nurse wasn't to know that and I just had a headache. The over-reaction was because the nurses had all been grilled on not giving patients aspirin so it was a newly impressed prohibition. If I'd asked for morphine I'd have got a calmer reaction :) As a general policy it's a good idea.