Penn study questions coated aspirin

PHILADELPHIA, PA.; December 5, 2012 (WPVI) -- About 1 out of every 5 Americans takes a daily aspirin because of its heart-healthy benefits.

However, several doctors at Penn are raising concerns that the COATING on buffered aspirin may be blocking some of those benefits.

Dr. Tilo Grosser, a research assistant professor of pharmacology who led the study, was actually testing the belief that up to a third of all people who take daily aspirin have aspirin "resistance," and don't get any benefit from the drug.

They conducted a study with 400 health volunteers, giving equal groups coated and uncoated aspirin.

They found that the coated aspirin delayed absorption, compared to uncoated aspirin, which dissolves more quickly in the stomach, and releases its chemicals.

They also found no "resistance" in the group which took the uncoated aspirin.

And they discovered the coatings don't do much to protect the stomach, which is the intent of the coating.

The study was published online this week in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association.

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