By All troops heading into combat zones are to stop taking the over the counter medicine ten days before they deploy. From Stars and Stripes-
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service is pulling all products containing aspirin from the shelves at its contingency locations.
Department of Defense officials ordered that aspirin in combat zones be controlled and now prohibit over-the-counter access through AAFES and Morale, Welfare and Recreation activities, an AAFES press release stated.
In an order written in March by then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Ward Casscells, service officials were told to make sure all U.S. troops and civilians headed into combat zones stop taking aspirin at least 10 days before they deploy, unless directed by a health care provider.
The goal of the policy is to minimize blood loss in combat injuries, he wrote, and cut down on the number of “preventable deaths” associated with those wounds.
The concern over aspirin stems from how it affects blood’s ability to clot.
“Basically, what it does is it inhibits platelet activation and aggregation,” said Air Force Col. David Schall, the command surgeon at the U.S. European Command’s headquarters. “This effect lasts for five to seven days after you take aspirin.
“If your platelets aren’t working, you are going to continue to ooze and ooze.”
Aspirin blocks an enzyme in platelets, he added.
Someone who took aspirin and is injured will have a higher rate of blood loss, and the larger the surface area of the injury that is bleeding, the bigger the problem, Schall said.
An acceptable alternative to aspirin is Tylenol, which is recommended instead of aspirin at those contingency locations, Schall said.
“Advil can have an effect on the platelets as well, but aspirin seems to be more potent,” Schall said.
It’s been well known for years that aspirin acts like a blood thinner(I take cumadin as a result of my having a mechanical heart valve). Why wasn’t this policy put in place before combat began in Iraq?
Tylenol usage doesn’t come without side effects. It can cause liver damage even in small doses.
It is the sad reality. No mistake...
12:15 am on May 1st, 2009 1
Yes it does seem a bit late for taking such a measure considering heavy combat operations are now over. Sounds like someone hunting for an OER bullet.
4:01 am on May 1st, 2009 2
This is all just one big conspiracy led by the Motrin industry.
11:14 am on May 1st, 2009 3
I assume you limit consumption of leafy greens, too, since they are high in vitamin K, which reduces the effectiveness of coumadin. A close friend has a mechanical aortic valve put in twenty years ago to treat stenosis.
Every single over the counter painkiller affects at least one organ. Aspirin and ibuprofen can irritate the lining of the stomach. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is metabolized by the liver and exceeding the recommended dose of two tablets or pills every four hours can damage the liver. Only recently has it been publicized that the combination of acetaminophen and alcohol is harmful as the liver cannot process both at the same time.