Medical An aspirin a day to help prevent heart attack and stroke

[Ivan Seeking]

..The recommendations, published in the March 17 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, state:

Men aged 45 to 79 with heart risk factors should take aspirin if the preventive benefits outweigh the risk of bleeding.

At-risk women aged 55 to 79 should take aspirin if the odds of reducing a first ischemic stroke outweigh the chance of bleeding.

Men under the age of 45 and women under 55 who have never had a heart attack or stroke should not take aspirin for prevention.

At this time, it isn't clear whether patients aged 80 and older should take aspirin.

The task force emphasized that the recommendations only apply to people who have never had a heart attack or stroke.

...

http://health.usnews.com/articles/h...s-revise-guidelines-on-daily-aspirin-for.html

According to one report, most experts think that a baby aspirin will do.

 

[DaveC426913]

Well, I hope so, since I've been taking a baby aspirin a day for the last six months.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

From what I understand from the CNN report, what makes this different is that almost by default, everyone between certain ages should take an aspirin a day provided that other risks don't exist. This, as opposed to saying that only those at risk of heart problems or stroke should take one. Who doesn't have at least one heart risk factor?

 

[Evo]

Funny, now days "baby aspirin" is for adult use only, due to Reyes Syndrome.

 

[Gnosis]

I've always loved the taste of baby aspirin. If they made candy that tasted just like it, I'd be hooked. Dang, now that I've thought about it, I'm going to have to go out and buy some baby aspirin.

 

[russ_watters]

My parents have been taking a baby asprin a day for quite some time - maybe even a decade.

 

[fluidistic]

I don't want to sound bad nor anything but I recall clearly that I read (I can't say where exactly) about less than a year ago that only one third of a baby aspirin would help to prevent heart attacks but more than that wouldn't have the same effects.