Many healthy Americans take a baby aspirin every day to reduce their risk of having a heart attack, getting cancer and even possibly dementia. But is it really a good idea?
Results released Sunday from a major study of low-dose aspirin contain a disappointing answer for older, otherwise healthy people.
“We found there was no discernible benefit of aspirin on prolonging independent, healthy life for the elderly,” says Anne Murray, a geriatrician and epidemiologist at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, who helped lead the study.
The study involved more than 19,000 people ages 65 and older in the United States and Australia. The results were published in three papers in the New England Journal of Medicine.
There is still strong evidence that a daily baby aspirin can reduce the risk that many people who have already suffered a heart attack or stroke will suffer another attack.
And there is some evidence that daily low-dose aspirin may help people younger than 70 who have at least a 10 percent risk of having a heart attack avoid a heart attack or stroke, according to the latest recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
But for older, healthy people, “the risks outweigh the benefits for taking low-dose aspirin,” Murray says.
The primary risk is bleeding. The study confirmed that a daily baby aspirin increases the risk for serious, potentially life-threatening bleeding.
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