Aspirin has been called the ‘One Cent Miracle Drug’ for good reason. It’s the most widely used medical remedy in the world and available for over a 100 years to treat headaches and other pains. Millions take it to decrease the risk of heart attack and more recently, cancer.

But how effective is it? And what is the recent surprise finding?

In January of 2011, the journal, The Lancet, reported data from eight studies involving 25,570 people. It concluded that a daily Aspirin decreased total cancer deaths by 24% after five years of use. Moreover, after people stopped Aspirin, death rates were still 20% lower for 15 years, largely for cancers of the colon, esophagus and prostate.

Researchers also discovered an 81 milligram (mg) baby Aspirin had the same effect as a 325 mg regular Aspirin. This in itself is good news as the lower the dose the less risk of complications.

Later, the Annals of Oncology analyzed data from hundreds of studies. It reported that daily Aspirin use for 10 years after age 50 decreased the risk of colon, stomach and esophageal malignancies by 33%. This analysis also proved the anti-cancer effect continued for several years after Aspirin was discontinued. At the same time there was an 18% drop in heart attacks, and a small drop in deaths from them.

So, why would anyone say ‘no’ to Aspirin in view of its effect on cancer and heart attack? I’ve stressed many times in this column that we never take a drug without facing unintended consequences. Every year in North America about 20,000 people taking Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs die of gastrointestinal bleeding.

But doctors, considering the pros and cons, believe it’s still prudent to prescribe a low-dose Aspirin in some situations. For instance, if there’s a family history of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, or one of colon, esophageal or prostate malignancy. A report from the University of California helps to make the decision for or against Aspirin easier.

It states, if 1,000 people decided to take Aspirin for 10 years, starting at age 60, it would prevent 16 deaths from cancer and one heart attack. But it would result in two deaths from hemorrhagic stroke (the type that causes death from rupture of an artery in the brain).

This summary shows that Aspirin’s main benefit is cancer prevention. But it’s also shocking because most North Americans believe that Aspirin prevents heart attack. They do not expect to die from hemorrhagic stroke (rupture of an artery in the brain).

So why doesn’t Aspirin save more lives from heart attack? It’s because Aspirin only oils the blood, decreasing the risk of a blood clot that causes coronary attack. However it does nothing to prevent and reverse atherosclerosis (hardening and narrowing of arteries), the main cause of heart attack and other cardiovascular complications.

So what more can people do, after taking Aspirin, to decrease their risk of heart attack and hemorrhagic stroke? Only one way has been proven. Photographs that don’t lie can be seen on the web site www.docgiff.com. They show that that high doses of Vitamin C and lysine can prevent and reverse atherosclerosis.

In Canada this combination in either powder or capsules is available at Health Food Stores. In the U.S. they’re available online at www.mymedi-c.com or the toll free number 1-844-781-0069.

The addition of lysine to Vitamin C reduces the risk of Aspirin’s possible complication, hemorrhagic stroke. Science has proven that the addition of lysine makes arterial walls stronger just as steel rods make concrete stronger. So they are less likely to burst causing a stroke.

Unfortunately, this information is not reaching millions of North Americans because of the immense power of pharmaceutical companies. They have spent hundreds of millions of dollars convincing doctors that cholesterol-lowering drugs are the be-all-and-end-all to treat heart attack and other cardiovascular problems, in spite of their many unintended consequences.

It’s particularly tragic that the medical establishment continues to ignore this natural, safe, less expensive, and effective remedy backed by a Nobel Prize winner’s research. But medical history shows this is not the first time that great health saving discoveries have collected dust.

See the web site www.docgiff.com. For comments info@docgiff.com.