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on 6/16/00 12:58 AM, wendell grogan at wgrogan@dc*.ne* wrote: > The best I've been able to find on the subject is "maybe". There are > alot of theoretical reasons based on our best guess of the cause of DCS > that suggest that antiplatelet agents will benefit. However, there is > not alot of valid experimental data as to the cellular level physiology > of DCS. > Wendell Grogan > (A diving doc) Wendell, That is what I've suspected. It's been said for years that aspirin was "maybe" an aid--probably a very small one--for the prevention of DCS. That some aggressive divers are taking it and other such over-the-counter medications isn't surprising given the insidious and unpredictable nature of DCS. The conclusion I read everywhere is that there isn't enough research, there's only a intelligent-guess suspicion that it works. If it has been "long recommended" as SOP for deco diving, who has recommended it and what do they base that recommendation on? I'd still like to see research that definitively says, "aspirin and ibuprofen can reduce the risk of DCS." There is research, but within the research I've seen there are probably as many new questions as there are answers. The best anyone can say is that aspirin ought to be beneficial. As to dosage, I did read in at least one diving medicine document that as little as 1/4 of a normal tablet of aspirin will provide the full platelet effect. Ibuprofen affects platelets too, but in a different way. Do you think that there is any concern at all for divers who are taking larger doses of aspirin and ibuprofen together? I've seen one person suggest that he takes 800 mg predive and an additional 800 mg every four hours of ibuprofen and an unstated amount of aspirin as well. How big is the bleeding concern for this type of dosage? And to restate my previous concern, is there any concern at all that dosages like this could mask subtle DCS symptoms and thereby delay treatment? This isn't a zero-sum game. If it actually works and its been proven that it does then it's a good thing for all deco divers within the boundaries of risk that I suggest. Thanks, JoeL -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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