Aspirin may be one of those drugs that you take without thinking – but you might want to think again the next time you reach for that pill bottle.

A new study finds that elderly patients who take low doses of aspirin to deal with their heart disease have higher instances of very small bleeding in the brain.

These “microbleeds” are so small they can only be seen with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology, but their very presence is alarming enough.

The researchers say their study, published in the Archives of Neurology, raises questions such as whether these microbleeds can lead to more severe brain hemorrhaging, and if aspirin plays a role in that.

Microbleeds are more common in elderly people in general, regardless of whether they regularly take aspirin. But this study also makes me wonder if a lifetime of pill-popping has helped lead to the condition as well.

Aspirin is one of those drugs too many people take far too often. And even at low doses, regular use of aspirin can lead to gastrointestinal problems such as nausea, vomiting and bleeding ulcers, as well as other side effects.

Yet many people eat them like jellybeans at the slightest symptoms of pain. Folks who battle arthritis often need aspirin just to get through the day.

If you’re in that group, you don’t need to tell me how often you hit that bottle. Chances are, you buy the jumbo-sized tubs of aspirin from a warehouse store.

But you don’t have to live that way. I put together a three-step plan to reverse arthritis in the May issue of Health Revelations, and you can subscribe now to get complete access to the archives by clicking here.

Other folks just decide that some pains are simply from the bumps and bruises of life. They pop a few aspirin and move on.

The fact is, nothing could be further from the truth. Many of the aches and pains we deal with are not conditions of their own, but signs of something else going on. When you take an aspirin, you might mask the pain – but the underlying condition remains.

If your pains are being caused by something other than arthritis, then it’s time to put down the pill bottle and pay a visit to your doctor. Everything from frequent headaches to muscle aches can be symptoms of conditions ranging from missing nutrients to undiagnosed injuries.

If left untreated – and no, aspirin doesn’t count as treatment – many of these conditions are likely to get worse over time. The best thing you can do for yourself is stop popping pills and find out what’s really causing you pain.

There’s a risk you may face next time you step into an MRI machine… and I bet that no one’s ever told you about it.

Burns.

It’s not the machines that are faulty, however. It’s the system we use to approve and market drugs.

It turns out that a number of medicinal patches, which fit on the skin almost like a band- aid and can deliver everything from nicotine to painkillers, contain trace amounts of metals. And Big Pharma doesn’t always bother putting that vital bit of info on the label, so you’d never know.

Metals are a no-no inside MRI tubes, and patients are always advised to remove all metal objects before sliding in.

But how could you even guess that there’s metal in these patches without a warning of some kind?

Yet, according to recent news reports, a quarter of the roughly 60 drug patches on the market contain enough metal to cause a painful burn if you’ve left one on during your MRI.

And here’s what drives me crazy… How come it took people getting burned before we understood the potential problem here? Many of these patches are for pain conditions – and people with chronic pain commonly undergo MRI examinations. It’s amazing that we could approve patches without even considering how they might interact with medical devices, such as MRI machines, that they were bound to come into contact with.

The FDA says it is working to get the warnings on all the drugs that need them. They’re even considering a move to print the warning on the patches themselves.

They say that in some cases, the metals were added to the patch after the package labels were written and approved. But in other cases, the FDA admits it simply dropped the ball, and failed to ensure the warning was there in the first place.

And why would such a “mistake” happen? Because of the pressure from Big Pharma to get their patches approved and onto the arms, legs, bellies and bottoms of people all over the nation as quickly as possible.

For too long, the FDA has been a willing accomplice in cases like this, which means these drugs are approved before we know critical information could have a dramatic affect on your overall health and safety.

In this case, we’re lucky. The burns are unpleasant, to be sure, and have been compared to a bad case of sunburn. But there have been no serious injuries or illnesses reported.

But what about the next time? Will we be so lucky then?