Scottish study warning on daily aspirin
A Scottish study of over 3,000 men and aspirin usage has shown that it does not significantly reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke and almost doubled the risk of being admitted to hospital because of internal bleeding.
Professor Gerry Fowkes of Edinburgh’s Wolfson Unit for Prevention of Peripheral Vascular Disease said the research showed the blood-thinning drug should not be prescribed to the general public, despite six previous studies indicating that frequent doses of aspirin could lower the risk of heart attacks.
The Edinburgh study looked at 3,350 patients aged 50 to 75 who were thought to be at risk of heart disease but had not displayed any symptoms. Over eight years, 181 of those taking a daily aspirin dose had heart attacks or strokes compared to 176 who were taking placebos.
There was no difference in the rate of heart attack or stroke between the two groups and deaths from any cause were similar. However there were 34 major bleeds in people taking aspirin compared with 20 among those on the placebo.
Professor Fowkes said that aspirin “probably leads to a minor reduction in future events but the problem is that it has to be weighed against an increase in bleeding. Some of that bleeding can be quite serious and lead to death”.
The executive director of the Aspirin Foundation, Nick Henderson, said that “aspirin use to prevent primary cardiovascular events is only appropriate where patients are considered by their doctor to be at special risk from factors such as obesity, lifestyle, stress, and a familial history”.
