The ‘Wonder Drug’ That Could Leave You Blind

Dear Reader,

I’ve spent most of my career busting mainstream medical myths.

And today I want to put the aspirin-a-day nonsense to bed once and for all. There’s a ton of research on what this over-the-counter painkiller will do to people, especially seniors — and most of it is bad.

Here’s the latest: Take a daily aspirin, and you more than DOUBLE the risk of losing your vision, possibly permanently and completely, to the “wet” form of late-stage macular degeneration, according to a study in Archives of Internal Medicine.

Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness among people over the age of 55.

The researchers found that the relationship was “dose-dependent” — meaning, the more aspirin you take regularly, the higher the risk of macular degeneration.

Suddenly that daily aspirin isn’t sounding so good, right?

And this research is no fluke, either.

It actually confirmed a previous study in the journal Ophthalmology that showed EXACTLY the same results: People who take aspirin twice a day have a doubled risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration, compared with people who don’t regularly take aspirin.

But it gets worse. In addition to vision loss, studies have linked daily aspirin use to hearing loss, tinnitus, sexual dysfunction and more. It also dramatically boosts your odds of serious internal bleeding.

Now, of course, we’re all bombarded with those commercials promising that aspirin can prevent heart attacks, right? Well, not so fast.

A massive analysis in the American Journal of Cardiology found that aspirin had NO significant effect in primary prevention for coronary artery disease, strokes, heart-related deaths, or even for overall mortality. That’s right – when used for prevention, it saved NO lives.

How can so many doctors continue the aspirin-a-day mantra?

It has to do with risk vs. benefit. And in all the studies I’ve seen, the risk/benefit is barely neck and neck—in other words, the risk is about the same as the benefit. For those people who are at high risk for a heart attack or stroke, it might be worth the risk.

For everyone else, it’s not.

Aspirin has its place–and that is during an actual heart attack. Heck, I’d even take one if I was having crushing chest pain.

But for prevention, NO WAY.

Rather than relying on a shortcut that deceives you into thinking you’re doing something worthwhile, do what you KNOW is worthwhile.

Eat a natural, nutrient-dense diet with superfoods and raw foods. Use your body for physical work on a daily basis. I guarantee there are more benefits and less risks going this route.

And natural supplements like CoQ10 are great for giving your aging heart an energy boost (I even take it myself).

But whatever you do, don’t let anyone sweet-talk you into a daily aspirin for preventing a heart attack.

The only thing you may end up preventing is good health.

To a brighter day,

Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.