Healthy People Advised Against Daily Intake of Aspirin

A new study has found that many people without any cardiovascular disease are taking aspirin to prevent heart disease, which may not be beneficial to their health. Researchers from the University of Alberta surveyed 807 patients at two family clinics in Alberta regarding the use of aspirin. Around 40% of them reported regular use of aspirin and among them nearly 87% took it to prevent heart attack and stroke without any signs of heart disease.

According to the authors, though previous studies have reported a decrease in the risk of first heart attack or stroke there is no significant difference in the mortality rates due to aspirin intake as a preventive measure.

Aspirin works by preventing platelets from forming clots in the blood. In the absence of cardiovascular disease, daily intake of aspirin leads to bleeding in the stomach and intestines and sometimes in the brain.

It was found from the survey that most of the people had initiated aspirin therapy following their physician’s advice while 25% of them had taken it own their own.

This finding shows that both physicians and patients need to be aware of the benefits and risks of aspirin regimen.

Source-Medindia