Healthy heart? No need for aspirin

Don't take aspirin unless you have a good medical reason to do so. That appears to be the best advice following the publication of research from the Univeristy of Edinburgh.

According to a study of 3,350 patients aged 50-75, healthy people taking aspirin to prevent heart attacks could be doing themselves more harm than good.

Many people are thought to take a daily dose of the drug in the belief that it acts as an insurance against heart trouble but its routine use for the prevention of heart problems 'cannot be supported', UK professors from the Aspirin for Asymptomatic Atherosclerosis (AAA) said following the publication of this research at European Society of Cardiology congress in Barcelona.

The Edinburgh trial looked at patients who were considered at risk of heart disease but had no symptoms. Over eight years, 181 of those taking daily aspirin had heart attacks or strokes compared to 176 who were taking placbos. More worryingly, 2% on aspirin were taken to hospital with internal bleeding compared to 1.2% of those taking placebos.

The study suugests it is all about weighing up the pros and cons and setting possible reduction of the risk of heart problems against the increased risk of internal bleeding. In patients who have already had a heart attack, the risk of a second is so much higher that the balance is in favour of taking aspirin, Professor Gerry Fowkes, from the Wolfson Unit for Prevention of Peripheral Vascular Diseases in Edinburgh, said.

Professor Peter Weissberg, of the British Heart Foundation which part-funded the research, agreed: 'We know that patients with symptoms of artery disease, such as angina, heart attack or stroke, can reduce their risk of further problems by taking a small dose of aspirin each day.' But, he stressed: 'the findings of this study agree with our current advice that people who do not have symptomatic or diagnosed artery or heart disease should not take aspirin, because the risks of bleeding may outweigh the benefits.'