Only Heart-Attack Patients Should Be Taking Aspirin
Only heart-attack patients should be taking aspirin, according to cardiologists.
Physicians usually recommend a low-dose aspirin regimen for patients who have had a heart attack or stroke because it reduces the risk of having another stroke or attack. But taking aspirin when you have not had such an incident might be dangerous. Aspirin interferes with blood clotting and can cause serious gastrointestinal bleeding.
Taking an aspirin occasionally for treating headaches, body aches or fever is safe for most adults (unless they’re allergic to it or bleed easily). Aspirin reduces the clumping action of platelets and prevents blood clots— (possibly preventing a heart attack) and at the same time, if you’re not at risk, it can cause internal bleeding.
Although some studies have shown that using aspirin can help prevent cardiovascular events in patients with multiple risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, doctors are not sure if the benefits of aspirin outweigh the risks.
According to Dr. J. Michael Gaziano, a researcher with the division aging at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, “We know that it prevents heart attacks in everybody,” said Gaziano, who is helping to oversee one of three ongoing aspirin trials. “What we don’t know is exactly what’s the break point.”
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved it for that purpose. In May, the agency rejected Bayer HealthCare’s request to market low-dose aspirin for use by people who have not had a heart attack.
Category: News
