Clinical studyEarly and late effects of low-dose aspirin on renal function in elderly patients
Section snippets
Patients
Eighty-three elderly residents (67 women and 16 men; mean [± SD] age, 81 ± 9 years) in the long-term geriatric care departments at Shmuel Harofeh Geriatric Medical Center, who had been admitted for a variety of chronic medical conditions, were recruited during a 3-month recruitment period. Informed consent was obtained from the patients or their guardians. The potential benefit of the study for the patients was to enable safer prescription of low-dose aspirin. The study was approved by the
Results
Control patients were somewhat more likely to have diabetes and a lower mean creatinine clearance at baseline, than were those treated with aspirin (Table 1). Seventy-three patients in the treatment group completed the 5-week study; the remaining 10 patients dropped out for various reasons (mainly discharge, acute change in medical condition not related to aspirin, or a necessary change in medication). Four patients in the control group dropped out for similar reasons. Aspirin was well
Discussion
Physicians are aware of the deleterious effects of NSAIDs on glomerular filtration rate, especially in people with borderline or diminished renal function 3, 14, 15, 16. The effects of high-dose aspirin on renal function are less well documented. Although high-dose aspirin is considered relatively safe, medical conditions may increase its risk 10, 11. Aspirin as an anti-inflammatory drug—at doses of 3 g/d—is seldom prescribed. However, aspirin is used widely in lower doses for the prevention of
Acknowledgements
We are in debt to Professor Adrian Iaina for his editorial assistance and to Eylon Neumann, MSc, for his statistical assistance.
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