• New research shows that aspirin intake inhibits the growth of brain aneurysms and by doing so prevents their rupture.

 

The Aneurism

In essence, an aneurysm is an irregular bulge or balloon that appears on the blood vessel. They can emerge all through the body for various reasons. An intracranial aneurysm (IA) is the same condition but it appears on the blood vessels that supply the brain.

Furthermore, this condition is dangerous because it appears as a result of the weakening of the blood vessel wall. This, in turn, may lead to a rupture of the vessel and extensive bleeding in the area. If the rupture occurs in the skull it can severally damage the health of the individual or kill them.

Not every aneurysm has to rupture and many people spend their life with the condition without it escalating. However, there is an estimate that over 6,5 million people in the US have an unruptured aneurysm. Also, it is common for people to have more than just one at the same time.

New Intracranial Aneurysm Research

The new research about aspirin and IA is led by David M. Hasan, M.D. and a team of medical researchers. They want to determine what treatment procedures help in the prevention of brain aneurysm ruptures.

Because of this, they look at 146 patients and their medical files over a period of 10 years. That is, they look for patients that underwent treatment or consumed aspirin as a treatment procedure for IA. This study material shows that two treatment options slow down the growth of an aneurysm.

Stent-assisted coil embolization helps as a surgical option. On the other hand, aspirin helps reduce the growth of the aneurysm as it helps repair blood vessels. Furthermore, none of the patients from the study had a rupture in the 10-year period. But only the patients that use aspirin demonstrate a significant decrease in the growth of aneurysms.

Findings from this study are available through the Journal of Neurosurgery.

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Limitation
  • For the study to be complete the researchers need to consider other factors that can slow down aneurysm growth.

 

Sources

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-10/jonp-cad102319.php

http://dx.doi.org/10.3171/2019.6.JNS191273