Medical Information
How can a daily aspirin prevent a heart attack or a stroke?
Aspirin keeps blood clots from forming in your arteries.
A blood clot in an artery in your heart can cause a heart attack. A clot in an
artery in your brain can lead to a stroke.
People who have
heart disease are at risk for a heart attack or a
stroke. A fatty substance called
plaque builds up in their arteries and narrows them.
Sometimes a piece of plaque breaks open. Then a clot forms, because blood cells
called
platelets clump together to fix the tear. But if the
clot blocks blood flow in a narrowed artery, it can cause a heart attack or a
stroke.
Aspirin keeps the platelets from clumping together to form
clots.
For more information on heart disease, see the topic
Coronary Artery Disease.
For more
information on stroke, see the topic
Stroke.
Who can take daily aspirin?
Doctors advise daily
aspirin for most people who have had a heart attack or a stroke. But they also
suggest it for many people who haven't had a heart attack or a stroke but are
at risk for having one. Things that raise your risk (called risk factors)
include your age and whether your parents had a heart attack or a stroke.
Having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes also raises your
risk.
Experts recommend aspirin for:1, 2, 3
- Healthy men over age 40 who have one or more risk factors for
heart disease, as long as their blood pressure is controlled and they have no
reason not to take aspirin.
- All healthy women over age 65, as long
as their blood pressure is controlled and they have no reason not to take
aspirin.
- Women under 65 who have one or more risk factors for
heart disease, as long as their blood pressure is controlled and they have no
reason not to take aspirin.
- Men and women over the age of 40 who have diabetes.
Daily aspirin isn't advised for people who have a low
risk of a heart attack or a stroke.
Before your doctor has you
take daily aspirin, he or she will find out if you have a high risk for a heart
attack or a stroke. Your doctor will ask you questions about your health and
your family's health. He or she also will do a physical exam and some tests,
such as a blood test to check your
cholesterol. Your doctor will use this information to
find out what your risk is in the next 10 years.
If you know your
blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, you can use an online tool to find out
your risk of a heart attack. Show the results to your doctor so you can talk
about whether aspirin might be a good choice for you.
- Interactive Tool: Are You at Risk for a Heart Attack?
What are the benefits of taking daily aspirin?
Aspirin lowers the chance of a heart attack.4 It
also lowers the chance of a stroke or a "mini-stroke," also called a
TIA.5
Aspirin
appears to work better in men to prevent a first heart attack. But it seems to
work better in women to prevent a first stroke. The combined results of six
studies showed that:6
- About 8 first heart attacks were prevented for every 1,000 men
who took aspirin. Aspirin didn't lower the chance of a heart attack in women.
- About 2 first strokes were prevented for every 1,000 women who
took aspirin. Aspirin didn't lower the risk of stroke in men.
Even if you take aspirin, you still need a healthy
lifestyle to lower your chance of a heart attack or a stroke. This includes
eating healthy food, getting regular exercise, and not smoking.
What are the risks of taking aspirin every day?
Daily aspirin is not right for everyone. People who have a risk of
bleeding may not be able to take it. This includes people who have stomach
ulcers or who have had a stroke caused by bleeding in the brain.
A
stroke caused by bleeding in the brain is the most serious side effect of
aspirin. This happens in 1 or 2 people out of 1,000 people who take aspirin.
This also means that 998 to 999 out of 1,000 don't have a stroke caused by
bleeding in the brain.7
Aspirin also can
cause bleeding in the stomach or another part of the digestive tract. Bleeding
that is bad enough to need treatment in a hospital happens in 2 to 4 people out
of 1,000 who take aspirin. This means that serious bleeding doesn't happen in
996 to 998 of those people.7
Others who
may not be able to take aspirin include people who:
- Are
allergic to aspirin.
- Have high blood
pressure that is not controlled.
- Have
asthma that is made worse by aspirin.
- Have
kidney problems.
- Take the medicines warfarin (Coumadin) or
clopidogrel (Plavix). They can raise the chance of bleeding. Doctors sometimes
prescribe one of these medicines along with aspirin. If you need to take one of
these medicines and aspirin, your doctor will tell you how to take them to
lower the chance of bleeding.
Gout can become worse or hard to treat
for some people who take a low dose (such as 75 mg to 325 mg) of
aspirin.
If you can't take aspirin, your doctor may have you take
clopidogrel (Plavix) to prevent a heart attack or a stroke.
How do you take aspirin?
Aspirin comes in
different doses. The dose for daily aspirin ranges from 75 mg to 325 mg. One of
the most common doses is 81 mg.
Although many people take aspirin
every day, some people are advised to take it every other day. Your doctor will
suggest what is right for you.
You can still take aspirin if you
also take the
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) ibuprofen
regularly for arthritis or another problem. But if you take uncoated aspirin
and ibuprofen at the same time, the aspirin may not work as well to prevent a
heart attack. Try to take the ibuprofen at least 8 hours before or 30 minutes
after you take an aspirin. Taking an ibuprofen once in a while doesn't keep
aspirin from preventing a heart attack.
Experts don't know if
other NSAIDs keep uncoated aspirin from working. They also don't know if people
who take a daily coated aspirin should be concerned about ibuprofen or other
NSAIDs. Talk to your doctor if you take these medicines every day.
Aspirin is low in cost, and you can buy it without a prescription.
Generic and store brands work as well as brand names.
