Cardiprin is primarily used as an anti platelet agent for many diseases including the two most common causes of death worldwide which are heart attack and stroke. You might be wondering if cardiprin and aspirin are two similar drugs? Yes, they are, cardiprin contains aspirin as the active ingredient added with glycine which helps your stomach tolerance towards aspirin.
History of aspirin has started centuries ago, where it was believed the records of aspirin were written by the Father of medicine, Hippocrates. He generally wrote about the powder made from the leaves of a tree that was used to relieve symptoms of headache, pain and fevers.
The term aspirin came from its root word. The “a ” is originated from acetyl chloride and “spir” from spiraea ulmaria which is used to call the plant salicylic acid where the drug is derived from. Cardiprin is then a generic name for a combination of aspirin and glycine.
When is Cardiprin commonly used?
1. Prevention of heart attack and stroke.
Heart attack and ischemic stroke generally occurs when your blood vessels to your heart and the brain get blocked by a blood clot. This happens especially when you have risk factors like hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, smoking history and unhealthy diet consumption.
Cardiprin has an antiplatelet factor which blocks the arachidonic acid pathway to produce several chemicals in the blood that initiates blood clotting, thus preventing the risk of getting recurrent heart attacks and stroke. Normally, you will be prescribed with cardiprin when you had a previous episode of heart attack or cerebrovascular disease. In these cases, you will most probably be on a dual anti platelet agent such as clopidogrel and your cardiprin prescription will be lifelong.
For a lifelong prescription of aspirin, your doctor will prescribe you together with a proton pump inhibitor to protect your stomach lining from bleeding due to its side effects. However, cardiprin has better tolerance to stomach bleeding.
2. Limb ischemia
Vascular occlusion occurring at the limbs especially the lower limbs can cause damage to various structures such as muscles, nerves, vessels, and skin leading to limb ischemia. Non-critical limb ischemia is when you experience intermittent claudication when you walk for a distance.
Non critical limb ischemia is usually treated conservatively with cardiprin for a minimum period of 6 months before reviewing your improvement on signs and symptoms.
Precautions before using Cardiprin
- There is evidence showing risks of taking cardiprin when you are pregnant. It is claimed to be safe during the first trimester of pregnancy and not advisable to be taken during the second and third trimester. It may cause hemostasis effects to both maternal and fetal circulation together with effects such as intrauterine growth restrictions and perinatal mortality.
- Cardiprin also can be excreted via breast milk and there were significant effects reported in infants who were breastfed, such as metabolic acidosis, platelet abnormalities, rashes and bleeding. Therefore, it is better to take cardiprin with maximum caution during breastfeeding.
- This medication is also contraindicated to be used in patients with end stage renal failure as it may cause chronic kidney injury such as chronic interstitial nephritis. In these cases, dose adjustment might be required to be on the safe side.
Side effects of Cardiprin
Just like any other drug, cardiprin also has some side effects however not everyone consuming it will experience these side effects. Some of them are reduced in platelet count, anemia, nausea with vomiting, confusion and rashes. Generally, these side effects do not require any medical intervention and go off on their own. If any of these symptoms becomes worse, please immediately get consultation from your doctor.
