In medicine cabinets across America, especially where seniors reside, there will always be that familiar bottle of aspirin. It may be there because it is a part of the regular line-up of over-the- counter medications, taken as needed, or the family physician may have prescribed a daily low dosage aspirin regimen to prevent heart attacks or strokes. Either way, we have all seen aspirin as that harmless pill that is simply there to help and could possibly do no harm.
Well, new research is shedding new light on aspirin. A 2018 study published in the journal, European Society of Cardiology, found that for people who have never had a heart attack, a daily aspirin regimen can cause more harm, as it reduces the body’s ability to clot and causes bleeding, especially in the stomach, which can be very dangerous. The study was also inconclusive in its findings that people at moderate risk for their first heart attack or stroke could lower their risk by taking a daily aspirin. The study found that a daily aspirin worked best for those patients who had already had a first heart attack or stroke.
Source: European Society of Cardiology. “Jury still out on aspirin a day to prevent heart attack and stroke.” ScienceDaily.ScienceDaily, 26 August 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180826120759.htm>