Aspirin and Asthma
Can Be A Deadly Combination

Under the right circumstances, Ibuprofen or Aspirin and Asthma together can be a deadly combination. People who have a condition called 'Aspirin Induced Asthma' may not even know it! All they know is that they have asthma.

But many of these people have an allergic asthma that is CAUSED by taking these pain relievers. While the people who are affected know that they have asthma, they may or may not even HAVE allergic asthma unless they take these pain relieving drugs.

Most people with allergic asthma are unaware of the connection and therefore do not relate their allergic asthma symptoms to the aspirin or Ibuprofen that they took for their cold or flu symptoms. In fact, many of those with Chronic Asthma only TAKE aspirin or Ibuprofen when they have cold or flu symptoms, so they relate the allergic asthma attack to the cold symptoms- and NOT the pain or fever reducer. So how could they know that aspirin and asthma are related if their doctor does not tell them?

Not Just Aspirin and Asthma

It's not JUST aspirin and asthma that are related. While it is called 'Aspirin Induced Asthma' because aspirin was the first drug that was found to cause it, other drugs can cause this problem too. The drugs that can cause asthma attacks in certain people are:

• Aspirin Side Effects
• Ibuprofen Side Effects
• Motrin and Advil (the same as Ibuprofen)
• Other Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID's)

While other Side Effects of Aspirin, such as bleeding, are well known, this problem is NOT- and that's what makes it such a problem. It's also a problem that these drugs are billed as being EXTREMELY safe with almost no Side Effects. But this is just simply not true. While aspirin has its own problems, Ibuprofen Side Effects can be devastating as well. You can't trust that because something is sold in the local grocery store without a prescription that it is 'Safe'. That is certainly not the case with Tylenol, aspirin and asthma.

Who Gets Aspirin Induced Asthma

While you must have asthma to have aspirin induced asthma, you may not even know that you have asthma until you take aspirin or Tylenol and get an asthma attack. But the vast majority of people who get aspirin induced asthma are those who already are aware that they have asthma- and these are the people that have been most studied.

Of people who already have asthma, when questioned, about 15% can recall having an asthma attack soon after taking aspirin or Ibuprofen. But in studies that actually give the drug to asthmatics in a controlled setting, up to 25% actually have asthma attacks! So the incidence may be MUCH higher than most people would believe. If you think about it, this means that between one in five people with asthma will be get aspirin induced asthma?

"… aspirin and non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) present
the most common and difficult problems.
Aspirin intolerance has emerged as a prominent
risk factor of severe asthma..."
The mechanisms, diagnosis, and management
of severe asthma in adults

Children, too, get aspirin induced asthma. While previous studies have said that the incidence is much less in children, again, when asthmatic children are given Ibuprofen under controlled circumstances, it is about the same incidence as for adults- up to 25%.

Preventing Aspirin Induced Asthma

It should come as no surprise that the best and only way to prevent aspirin induced asthma is to not give aspirin, Ibuprofen, Motrin or NSAID's to those who are susceptible. So Tylenol is one of the few non-prescription pain and fever reducing drugs on the market.

But Tylenol, despite it also being billed as one of the safest drugs on the market, has it's own Tylenol Side Effects that are anything but pretty. So, if you need to control pain or fever for someone who has an Aspirin and Asthma problem, see the individual pages on Tylenol Side Effects and Ibuprofen Side Effects to get more details. Keep reading to find out more about how nutrition can affect your asthma...

Next --->
Asthma and Nutrition

Back to the Top of Aspirin and Asthma

Back to Side Effects Site Home Page