On Monday, Harvard researchers reported that millions of people who are taking aspirin to prevent a stroke or heart attack may need to rethink about the popping a pill.
Physicians often recommend daily low-dose aspirin to people who have a history of stroke or heart attack and to those who are diagnosed with heart disease.
However, for people who are otherwise healthy, that recommendation has been overturned.
According to guidelines released by the American Colleges of Cardiology and the American Heart Association earlier this year, daily low-dose aspirin is no longer recommended for the prevention of a heart attack or stroke in older people with no existing heart disease.
In 2017, nearly 30 million people 40 and above were taking a daily dose of aspirin in spite of having no existing heart disease, according to a new study from Harvard and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Of those, more than 6 million were taking aspirin on their own, without doctor’s recommendation.
More than 10 million people over 70 years of age who do not have heart disease were found to be taking a daily dose of aspirin for heart disease prevention.
The new study was reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Lead study author Dr. Colin O’Brien said, “Many patients are confused about this.”
For years, clinicians urged people to use aspirin to lower the chances of a first stroke or heart because of the drug’s blood-thinning properties.
However, last year, three surprising new studies challenged this philosophy. They tested aspirin in people with a low to moderate risk of a heart attack and found only marginal benefit, especially for older people. Many aspirin users reported digestive tract bleeding and other side effects.
So far, nothing has really changed for heart attack survivors. They are advised to continue taking aspirin. However, we do not know how many people, who are otherwise healthy, know about the new guidelines. Dr. O’Brien said, “We hope that more primary care doctors will talk to their patients about aspirin use, and more patients will raise this with their doctors.”
