Forget, for a moment, that people all over the world took aspirin for pain relief from the 5th century BC until 1971 with almost no idea how it worked. Now we know, kind of, and curious readers can find out how aspirin works here. But that article doesn’t tell us if the heart disease preventative benefits of taking an aspirin a day outweigh the increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. Really, what is a cautious person to choose: a lesser likelihood of heart disease, or a greater likelihood of gastrointestinal bleeding? Wait, here comes some help. U.S. News & World Report tells us about new aspirin taking
guidelines issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and tailored to match
age and gender.
- Men aged 45 to 79 with heart risk factors should take aspirin if the preventive benefits outweigh the risk of bleeding.
- At-risk
women aged 55 to 79 should take aspirin if the odds of reducing a first
ischemic stroke outweigh the chance of bleeding. - Men under the age of 45 and women under 55 who have never had a heart attack or stroke should not take aspirin for prevention.
- At this time, it isn’t clear whether patients aged 80 and older should take aspirin.
Helpful? Read more about this in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Yes I take a Aspirin each day as my doctor told me to because I have had blood clots and I have been taken them for about two years and Iam 75 years old. B.B.
There is an aspirin called ascriptin which is coated with Maalox…my vet. tells me that I can give this to my dog (stop laughing) the Maalox helps coat the stomach. I’m no doctor, but this might be worth looking into.