From correspondents in Washington, United States, 10:33 AM IST

Aspirin has been known to benefit patients suffering heart attacks and near-heart attacks. But which of the different types of aspirin are likely to help the most?

A group of researchers led by Sean Nordt from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), gave three different types of aspirin to a group of volunteers - regular aspirin swallowed whole, regular aspirin chewed and swallowed, and chewable aspirin chewed and swallowed. Blood levels of aspirin were then measured, to see which route led to the highest aspirin levels in the body.

The chewable aspirin consistently showed greater and more rapid absorption than the regular aspirin, whether swallowed whole or chewed. This seemingly simple finding could lead to improvements in the care of heart attack patients, said an UCSD release.

Nordt presented these findings at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) annual meeting on Friday.

Abstracts were published in Academic Emergency Medicine, SAEM's official journal.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)