(Philadelphia, PA) The original miracle drug, aspirin, continues
to surprise medical scientists. While studies have proven that
aspirin can prevent a second heart attack by thinning the blood,
researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
have shown that aspirin can also prevent heart attacks and
stroke through an entirely different mechanism. Using laboratory
models, the Penn researchers demonstrated that aspirin also
lessens the inflammation associated with atherosclerosis and
stabilizes athersclerotic plaque. Their findings are presented
in the current issue of Circulation. "The past decade has seen a
lot of research indicating that atherosclerosis is a chronic
inflammatory disease," said Domenico Pratic, MD, assistant
professor in Penn's Department of Pharmacology. "Our findings
show that aspirin not only decreases inflammation in the
arteries and the growth of the atherosclerotic plaque, but it
also beneficially alters the consistency of the plaque that
remains." Atherosclerosis, also