(161q) Effects of Sustained Low-Dosage Aspirin Consumption on the Mechanical Properties of Human Blood - a Rheological Study

The leading cause of death globally is cardiovascular disease. The cost of this disease as has increased dramatically over the last two decades. The scale of this problem necessitates development of as many solutions as practicable. One of the most common preventative measures over the last several decades has been the prophylactic use of regular, low dosage, acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin). Even though this approach has been heavily utilized, few if any rheological studies validating the change in physical, mechanical properties of healthy human blood such as viscosity and yield stress at varied shear rates exist in the literature. Blood is a highly complex thixo-elasto-visco-plastic media necessitating a rigorous analysis of all rheological parameters. This is a rheological study of human blood from multiple healthy donors before and after taking a daily 81mg dose of aspirin for 14 days. The viscosity and yield stress both demonstrate a statistically relevant decrease across the entire study population. Correlation analysis found several intriguing relationships between steady state rheological parameters and physiological parameters before and after dosage. Large Amplitude Oscillatory Shear experiments probed the thixotropic nature of the blood and the Series of Physical Phenomena framework allowed the evolving rouleaux structure to be visualized and contrasted before and after dosage.