Hospitals and Healthcare

Fewer than 40 percent of people who have suffered a heart attack or stroke take a daily aspirin, even though it can help prevent another cardiac event, a study shows.

Cardiologists are no longer recommending daily low-dose aspirin for older adults except for high-risk patients because the risk of bleeding can outweigh the heart-healthy benefits.

Taking low-dose aspirin daily doesn't delay the onset of disability in healthy older people. Nor does it prevent heart attack or stroke in those who hadn't experienced either condition before.

New research shows low-dose aspirin doesn’t prevent strokes in relatively healthy people aged over 70. And it increased their risk of bleeding on the brain after falls or other injuries.

The findings reflect the average likelihood of bleeds or heart attacks among the patients in all the trials. There will be people among them who would be better off taking aspirin and those who will be worse. We’re not all the same. It’s yet another situation where we need to weigh up our individual risk and benefit – maybe with the help of an understanding GP.