Year: 2014
Type: editorial
Abstract: Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid, ASA) is one of the oldest and most commonly used drugs in the world. In the 5th century BC, Hippocrates already prescribed leaves and bark of the willow tree, consisting of ASA precursor salicin, to patients with high fever and extreme pains. Nowadays, chronic low-dose ASA is widely prescribed as a platelet aggregation inhibitor in patients at risk for myocardial infarction or stroke. In the Netherlands, it is the second most used drug with 7.6 million prescriptions in 2012 [1]. One of the main disadvan-tages of ASA, however, is up-regulation of COX-2 in the stomach, which may result in gastrointestinal side effects including dyspepsia, gastrointestinal ulcers, and bleeding [2]. These side effects instigated the development of alterna-tives such as effervescent carbasalate calcium (ECC). ECC is a salt formulation of ASA, which makes it more soluble and
Source: Netherlands Heart Journal
Authors: B. C. du Pré, L. W. van Laake
Institution: University Medical Center Utrecht
Language: English
Subfield: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2083566826