What are the serious symptoms of aspirin allergy

Aspirin is a relatively common western medicine. It is often used in our daily treatment of diseases. It is a medicine that is always available in our family medicine cabinets. When taking aspirin, you must be aware of some side effects, especially for people with allergic constitutions. You must not take it, otherwise it may cause aspirin allergy, damage the gastrointestinal mucosa, cause great harm to the liver, and cause great harm to kidney function.

1. Gastric mucosal damage

Aspirin can cause gastric mucosal erosion, bleeding, and ulcers. Most patients will have a positive fecal occult blood test after taking moderate doses of aspirin for a few days; those who take this drug for a long time have a high incidence of ulcers. The author once encountered a patient who took 0.6g of aspirin orally twice a day due to high fever. Three days later, he vomited 500ml of blood. In addition to the acidity of the drug directly causing damage to the gastric mucosa, injection of the drug can also cause damage. Aspirin can penetrate the lipoprotein membrane layer on the gastric mucosa and destroy the protective effect of the lipoprotein membrane. Gastric acid then diffuses reversibly into the tissue and damages cells, causing capillary rupture and bleeding. It has been recently discovered that prostaglandins play a certain role in maintaining the gastric mucosa, and aspirin has been shown to inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandins, increasing the shedding of gastric mucosal epithelium and exceeding the renewal rate, aggravating the severity of ulcers, and reducing gastric mucus. For this reason, it is best to take aspirin after meals or with antacids. Patients with ulcers should use it with caution or not at all.

2. Liver damage

There are few reports in China on liver damage caused by aspirin, but data show that when the serum aspirin concentration decreases, the transaminase also returns to normal. Drug-induced liver damage may be related to hepatocellular poisoning or allergic reactions.

3. Bleeding, hemolysis, and hematopoietic dysfunction

Aspirin has the effect of dilating coronary arteries and cerebral blood vessels, but fails to inhibit the synthesis of prothrombin in the liver. It can inhibit the activity of cyclooxygenase and reduce the formation of thrombin A2, prevent platelet aggregation, and make it difficult for platelets to release coagulation factors, thus having a certain anticoagulant effect. For this reason, patients with gastrointestinal bleeding or ulcer disease, clinical bleeding tendency or recent history of cerebral hemorrhage should not take this medicine. When pregnant women take aspirin, brain damage such as cerebral hemorrhage often occurs in premature babies. Therefore, pregnant women should stop taking this product 2 to 3 months before delivery. Aspirin can cause hematopoietic dysfunction. The author has seen a patient who developed acute hematopoietic stagnation after taking this product. Four hours after taking this product, the patient felt itchy all over the body. Seven hours later, the patient had epistaxis and continuous gingival bleeding, accompanied by systemic purpura. The bone marrow showed that the erythrocyte system was significantly suppressed. After symptomatic treatment, the bone marrow returned to normal after 10 days. Aspirin may occasionally cause hemolysis.

4. Kidney damage

Clinical observations and animal experiments have shown that long-term use of aspirin can cause interstitial nephritis, renal papillary necrosis, and renal function impairment. Long-term and excessive use of this product can cause uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation, and potassium can escape from renal tubular cells, leading to potassium deficiency and excessive excretion of uric acid in urine. The greater damage is the appearance of proteins, cells, casts, etc. in the lower urine.

5. Neuropsychiatric symptoms

When using anti-rheumatic doses, the so-called salicylic acid reaction sometimes occurs within the first 3 to 4 days of treatment. Symptoms include headache, dizziness, tinnitus, and decreased vision and hearing. If the dosage is too large, mental confusion, convulsions, and even coma may occur.