04 November 2009
Doctors should not advise patients to take aspirin to prevent heart attacks and strokes unless they have already been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, scientists have claimed.
An article in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin notes that low-dose aspirin is beneficial in people who have already had a heart attack or stroke, as it may help to prevent further episodes.
However, an analysis of previously published research has led the authors of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin to advise against the use of aspirin in primary prevention.
The authors noted that many people take a daily dose of aspirin in the belief that it may help to prevent cardiovascular disease.
But they claim that routine use should not be recommended in certain groups of patients, such as over-50s with type-2 diabetes and those with high blood pressure.
Aspirin only has a negligible impact on death rates in such groups, but puts users at risk of serious gastrointestinal bleeds, they say.
"Current evidence for primary prevention suggests the benefits and harms of aspirin in this setting may be more finely balanced than previously thought, even in individuals estimated to be at high risk of experiencing cardiovascular events, including those with diabetes or elevated blood pressure," they write.
"We believe, therefore, that low-dose aspirin prophylaxis should not be routinely used for primary prevention."
June Davison, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said that the risk of serious bleeding posed by regular aspirin use "outweighs the potential preventative benefits".
She concluded: "We advise people not to take aspirin daily, unless they check with their doctor."
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