Quick comment about a few aspects of post: recent studies have shown that in at least 1/3 of people, 81 mgs of aspirin is a sub-therapeutic dose of the thrombolytic /antithromboembolic (the most common term for these medications is anticoagulant, but it is technically incorrect ; a compound like vampirin, which comes from the vampire bat, is an anticoagulant-the strongest one known, in fact, as it must be washed away before its activity stops). The full 325 mg dose is the ED50 for this subset of patients.
One of the reasons I want to comment on this is because I personally continue to witness too many cases of MI, CVA or other thromboembolic event that has resulted in mortality/morbidity due to the treating physician's lack of understanding of the concept of rebound phenomenon from drug discontinuation (I have heard this called bradyphylaxis, which is completely incorrect. Bradyphylaxis is the technical term for sensitization; tachyphylaxis is the technical term for habituation.) Patients should always be weaned off of thrombolytics when necessary (e.g., prior to elective surgery), including low dose aspirin; even Vitamin E ot Gingko should not be abruptly discontinued because almost all drugs have a period of excessive contra-efficacy when suddenly stopped. Thrombolytics have a period of hypercoagulability after discontinuation for 1-3 weeks depending on the drug, serious enough to be the primary cause of morbidity/mortality. The ME often rules theses death's primary causes as MI or CVA, when in fact, it was secondary to the primary cause of death, rebound phenomenon due to abrupt thrombolytic discontinuation.
Our physicians today, in general, have a very poor understanding of pharmaceutical science and are jeopardizing the lives of too many people by not keeping up with their reading and with CE credits resulting from ridiculously over-simplified course work designed more for the layman than a person the public goes to for their supposed medical, the average physician is far too often killing their patients by the medication they prescribe, and no one ever even realizes the patient was killed by their physician's ignorence