The discussion of whether people over the age of 60 should take aspirin will continue as medical professionals learn more about the potential advantages and disadvantages of long-term use.
Aspirin is an over-the-counter drug used for a variety of reasons, but it is especially used in the prevention of heart attacks and strokes in older people. Apart from treating pain, doctors may prescribe aspirin to patients at risk of heart attacks or stroke, according to Harvard Health.
Dr. Michael J. Braha, director of clinical research for the prevention of cardiovascular disease at Johns Hopkins Siccaron, says how aspirin can help with those conditions and your specific health. Blood hope is decomposed to how profit or risk is.
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Is aspirin thin blood?
Yes, aspirin has thin blood. This can be beneficial for people at high risk of heart attacks and strokes.
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Heart attacks and strokes can occur when plaques form in arteries, slowing blood flow within the body and forming small clots. Blocking or destroying blood flow to the heart causes a heart attack, and blocking or destroying blood flow to the head causes a stroke.
Here is where aspirin can act. It blocks the blood.
“Aspirin can reduce heart attacks and strokes, and to some extent reduce other blood clots, such as those found in deep veins in the legs,” Braha Sasis said. “At low doses, aspirin inhibits platelets and thus reduces blood clots.”
Thinning blood and therefore less blood clots are clear professionals for those at high risk of cardiovascular problems. But it doesn’t make aspirin a major candidate for everyone.
“In cardiovascular disease, many cardiovascular diseases are the result of blood clots, so they generally prefer to thin blood,” says Braha. “But thinning of blood inevitably increases the risk of bleeding.”
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Who should not take aspirin?
According to a 2021 survey in the Internal Medicine Chronicles, almost one American over the age of 60 (approximately 19 million) takes aspirin every day. And more than 3 million Americans reported taking aspirin without consulting a medical professional first.
However, the American Heart Association warns against taking daily low-dose aspirin without first talking to a doctor.
“A patient with too low risk may have taken aspirin in the past, but sometimes without consulting a medical professional,” Braha points out. In general, “people at low to moderate risk of cardiovascular disease without imaging or evidence of asymptomatic diseases related to previous heart attacks or stroke” should also avoid taking aspirin, he adds .
Because of the high risk of bleeding, people with a history of bleeding or with gastrointestinal disorders should not take aspirin, Braha adds. According to Harvard Health, aspirin “will weaken the stomach protective lining against stomach acid, making the stomach and intestinal fragility to stomach acid more fragile.”
Also, if you have a history of heart attacks or stroke, you should consult your doctor before you can stop using aspirin, adds Blaha.