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•••
TIMELY
Tips and
Helpful
Suggestions for YOU and YOUR
FAMILY
•
Uncommon Knowledge About
Common Aspirin
Mosr aspirin users rarely considcr rhe possíbly dan–
gerous side dfeccs of the drug. Bur rhose who casually use
aspirin, cspccially habitual uscrs, should bcware of its haz–
ards.
Dr. Vernon
N.
Smith, Profcssor of Medicine ar che
Univcrsicy of Maryland Medica! School, found chac 94 our
of
100
paricnrs admirred ro hospital care for severe incesri–
nal bleeding had raken aspirin, ora preparacion conraining
aspirin, wirhin 24 hours of thc onser of rhe bleeding.
··There is cerrainlr far more harm in
a
couple of aspirin
chan in a couple of cigarerres," he conduded.
D. René Menguy, Professor of Surgery ar che Univer–
siry of Chicago. warned over a ycar ago rhar aspirin should
be sold only by prescriprion bccausc ir had been known ro
cause interna! bleeding and cvcn dcarh.
Thc
biochemical effecrs of aspirin on che body have,
unril rccently, remained largely a mysrery. Sorne of irs
drug reacrions are now unfolding. For example. as re–
porrcd in
Dril/'s Pharmacolog).
page
290, 1965,
ir has been
known for sorne rime rhar borh injeccion of aspirin inro
rhe blood ("'inrravenous salicylare") as well as oral doses
can cause bleeding in che scomach.
Ncw research reveals rhac aspirin blocks the produc–
rion of che hormone-like componcnr
callcd
prostaglandin
E,
which promotes che rhickening of rhe scomach walls.
Inrcrfcrence wirh its produccion weakens the inresrinal
lining. Because of rhis acrion. aspirin can cause bleeding
and is associared wirh che formarion of scomach ukers.
Buc che bleeding mosc likely occurs in ocher pans of che
bod)' as well, since bleeding in rhc small incesrine has also
been associated with rhe consumption of aspirin (D.
A.
Brodie,
C.
L.
Tate,
K.
F.
Hooke,
Science,
vol.
170,
page
183. 1970).
Mouth ulcers can occur by chewing aspirin-conraining
gum (H.
N.
Claman,
M.D.,journal ojthe American Medica/
AJsociation,
vol.
202,
page
199, 1967).
More rhan Jikely,
inhibirion of prosraglandin
E
producrion is involved here
as well.
Orher side effects are also associared with che con–
sumprion of aspirin, such as low blood sugar (hypogly·
PLAtN TRUTH Juty 1972
cemia) in diaberics and "normal" subjeccs. Buc in conrrasr.
aspirin causes higb blood sugar in rheumaric patienrs.
•
Plant Hunger Signs
A lack of nitrogen. phosphorus and pocash in che
soi l will adversely affecc che growrh and qual icy of planes
in you r vegetable garden. Warch for che following indica–
rions
ro
derecr a deficiency of rhesc major soil elemenrs :
NOT ENOUGH NITROGEN
l.
A
sickly yellowish-green color.
2. A
distinctly slow and dwarfed growth.
.3.
Drying up or ''firing" of leaves, which scarrs
ar rhe borrom of che planr, proceeding up·
ward. In planes like grains and grasses, rhe
firing scarts at the cip of che borrom !caves
and goes down thc ccnrer or along che mid–
rib.
NOT ENOUGH PHOSPHORUS
l.
Purplish !caves, srems and branches.
2.
Slow growth and maturiry.
3.
Small. slender scalk in grass; in small grains.
lack of scooling.
4.
Low yields.
NOT ENOUGH POTASH
l.
Morrling, sporring, screaking or curling of
!caves, scarring on rhe lower levels.
2.
Lower leaves scorched or burned on margins
and rips. These dcad arcas may fall our. lcav–
ing ragged cdgcs. In grains and grasses. fir–
ing srarrs ar thc rop of the leaf and proceeds
down from che edge. usually lcaving rhe
midrib green.
3. Premarure loss of leaves.
4.
Planes falJing clown before maturiry due ro
poor roor dcvelopmenr.
In mosr cases rhe deficicncy problem can be corrected
by adding good manures to che soil and watering rhem
in.
An informarive book on che subject is
Hrmger Signs
in Crops,
by Howard B. Sprague. published by David
McKay Co. This book is filled wirh color illuscrarions
which
clearly
show rhe sympcoms of the above-menrioned
deficiencies. You may be able ro find Mr. Sprague's book
or a similar one in your public library.
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