From Lyndsay McLeod
In his article on the benefits of aspirin (7 February, p 36), Gareth Morgan makes a plausible case for considering salicylate as a micronutrient with vitamin status, and therefore as an essential component of diet.
On existing evidence, however, it is hard to imagine how micro amounts of salicylate could be of any therapeutic value. Even with daily doses of sodium salicylate of 1300 milligrams, which are mega amounts beyond the “micronutrients” available in food, we found no evidence of inhibition of platelet function (European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, vol 27, p 67). This inhibition is essential for prevention and treatment of stroke and heart attack.
Until there is more compelling evidence for the role of natural salicylate (not man-made aspirin) in amounts that are demonstrably effective, it is a long bow indeed that Morgan draws.
Mt Nelson, Tasmania, Australia
