I ran across this article in the online periodical called The Brother Jonathan Gazette. Some of the articles seem a bit off the wall to me, but one caught my eye and sort of seemed to make sense.

"In 1918, a virulent, never seen before, form of influenza seemed to suddenly appear. It seemed to kill within hours, and spread around the world within days. It seemed to appear simultaneously all around the world. Its spread was faster than any then known means of human travel."

http://www.brojon.org/frontpage/murdermedicine1.html

What do you think? A reasonable theory, or just a boondoggle?

Sue

Whether or not his theory is correct, this much I do know:
I don't take cold or flu products when I feel the early symptoms of cold/flu. I suffer for a day or so, preferrably under a blanket to sweat it out. They never seem to get too bad when I take this route. Of course, over the years, I rarely get sick - during the periods when I keep up my regular exercise routine. In the past when I have been less than diligent and slacked off on the exercise, I was more susceptible to whatever bug was "going around". Regular vigorous exercise raises your body temperature - probably tough for those little viral devils to multiply when you're getting "hot" on a regular basis.

Hmmm, but then why wouldn't there be millions of deaths from aspirin during EVERY flu season? I'm going to chalk this one up as "very unlikely".

-Blast

I'll second randyo's self-treatment. I'll also take a non-asprin pain reliever if the bug produces a bad headache.

The author's stroy is plausible, but he needs to disclose his sources.

Trust, but verify.

Like most interesting conspiracy theories, there are kernels of truth mixed in among the hyperbole, misdirecting questions, and plausible-sounding misinformation.

"...no one has been able to identify the actual medical cause of the 1918 Flu..."? Hello--the entire genome was published in the prestigious journal Nature not long ago. And then another scientist recreated the genes, and with the help of the CDC--partly for their expertise, and partly for their bioware-level containment labs, I'm sure--actually produced live virus samples from it. The so-called "Spanish Flu" appeared everywhere around the world at once? Also not true. The spread was fast, yes, but not "...spread around the world in days..." as this guy claims.

Fever the human body's only defense? Then why does he go on to describe other mechanisms the body uses to destroy the virus? And viral pneumonia is relatively uncommon in flu cases. It's usually secondary bacterial pneumonia that hospitalizes and kills people who catch influenza. However, unlike your garden-variety flu, it is true that Spanish Flu caused massive lung damage, but that was regardless of whether aspirin was taken or not.

The little history on Bayer and aspirin was interesting, although I have no idea if that part was even true. And this guy claims to be the only person in the world to figure out the etymology of the world "aspirin"? Brilliant! While it's true today that you can't label your drug as fever-reducing if you didn't originally get it approved for it, I doubt that those restrictions were in place at the turn of the century. Back then, snake oil still flowed freely.

Like Blast said, according to this guy's logic, people should have been dropping like flies for decades. Even now, in our litigous society, do we see warnings on aspirin bottles against using it for fever because we might die a horrible death, choking on our own fluid?

That said, there is is a place for fever-reducing medications, particularly when it is high. However, using aspirin to bring down a fever has been shown to pose a risk for children and teens for Reye Syndrome, and the label warns you about it.

Anyway, a somewhat entertaining read, but there's no substance to the story. And definitely don't swear off aspirin or any other fever-reducing medication because of it.

Hi Susan,
I have no special medical knowledge over any other average guy, but living in a country in which dengue fever and other type of hemorrhagic fevers are unfortunately common, I can tell you that taking any kind of anti-coagulant is not recommended in case you suffer of fever and common flu symptoms.
In facts here Aspirin is a controlled medication while almost any others are over the counter, including any kind of anti-biotics.
My 2 cents.

I never take Aspirin because when I was younger it would make my nose bleed. Later I had a small intervention (they burned the problematic vein in my nose) and my nose is now less prone to bleeding.

Frankie

Look at the rest of the site: "SCIENTIFIC EARTHQUAKE PREDICTOR," "THE KINECHRON," "The 'mystery' disease SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, is being used as a 'bio-terror campaign' by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control," and tell me what you think of the credibility of the aspirin article.

Heck! Look at the aspirin article. He says, "The 1918 Flu spread faster and was more deadly, killing more people than even the Plague and Black Death of the middle ages. Why does no one talk about it?" No one talk about it?? It's been on the news and in the papers for months. Scientists recently recovered samples, and that was big news on whether it was ethical to have the bug out in the open again where it might start off. And "Maybe something about the 1918 Flu is being covered up. Something that we are not supposed to know." Yeah, right. Another conspiracy.

I also beg to differ that Kleenex, Scotch Tape, and Xerox are 'generic names.'

" even today few if any doctors are aware that fever is not a symptom of disease, but is the primary and only way for the human body to stop viral infections," and "most doctors treat the flu with aspirin or fever reducers." Horse manure. No doctor I've ever known has claimed to be able to treat the flu. They _all_ have said there's nothing that can be done except, get this, treat the symptoms -- drink plenty of fluids, take aspirin (or now Tylenol), and get bed rest. This treatment has been recommended for generations, and no one has seen a pandemic from it.

His discussion of how Tamiflu is used is dead wrong. It's available as a capsule or as a powder; Tamiflu is given orally. Tamiflu does not treat the symptom of fever, it actually attacks the virus. Patients are given a recommended dose of 75mg twice daily for five days provided that the patient has not had symptoms for more than 2 days. In that case, Tamiflu is not effective. See the package insert at
http://www.rocheusa.com/products/tamiflu/pi.pdf
for more information on Tamiflu.

For accurate information on aspirin, see the UC Berkeley's Wellness Center at
http://www.berkeleywellness.com/html/fw/fwLon15Aspirin.html

The real origin of the name aspirin is given at
http://www.ul.ie/~childsp/CinA/Issue59/TOC43_Aspirin.htm
"On 23/1/1899 the name 'Aspirin' was selected and registered as a trade name. It was named for "a" from acetyl, 'spir' from the spirea plant, and 'in' a common ending for drugs. In May 1899 Bayer started marketing it and the 'Aspirin' story began in earnest. The US patent was granted in 1899 and it was patented and its name protected in many countries." Note also that Sterling Drug owned the trademark "Bayer Aspirin" since 1918 (a result of Germany's loss of WWI) and that Bayer bought it back in 1994. Sterling 'lost' it's claim to a trademark in Aspirin in the US, Britain, and France as another result of Germany's loss of WWI.

All these 'mysteries' are plainly discussed and described on many Web sites. There are no mysteries on the name, its trade use, how it works, or why it's prescribed. Whoever wants to know can simply read the links above or do their own simple research via Google. Whether one thinks UC Berkeley is run by loonies or Brother John's Gazette is run by loonies is left for the reader to decide.

Aspirin is a potent drug, and some of the side effects are undesireable, leaving ibuprofen or acetaminophen as preferable choices. But some of the effects of aspirin can't be duplicated at anywhere near the cost and availability of plain old generic aspirin.

Well, then there's Jack Daniels, but that's another story.

Phil

Regarding the comment about "snake oil", it's still flowing freely. Take a good look at the ads for most of the homeopathic, natural remedies being touted today.
Unfortunately, Congress was bought off by the so-called natural health industry and even the wildest claims can be made without any scientific proof.
(I won't comment on the vast amount of inaccurate information spread on the net.)

"There is nothing so frightening as ignorance in action"

"He says, "The 1918 Flu spread faster and was more deadly, killing more people than even the Plague and Black Death of the middle ages. Why does no one talk about it?" No one talk about it?? It's been on the news and in the papers for months."

IIRC, this article was from Feb/March of this year. I don't have TV -- was it in the news back then?

"I also beg to differ that Kleenex, Scotch Tape, and Xerox are 'generic names.' "

I suspect he meant "used generically", which they are.

I don't believe everything I read anywhere, even here. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Sue