Should you really take that daily aspirin?

Low-dose aspirin therapy used to be considered a simple way to help prevent a first-time heart attack or stroke in people with low risks for those events. That changed in 2019, when evidence about aspirin's limited benefits and increased bleeding risks in low-risk adults prompted new recommendations against such therapy. But many people haven't gotten the message, according to a research letter published online June 24, 2024, by Annals of Internal Medicine. Researchers analyzed data from national health surveys of 186,000 people ages 40 or older, collected between 2012 and 2019 and again in 2021. While aspirin use declined after 2019, nearly a third of healthy adults ages 60 or older reported that they were still taking aspirin in 2021, and about 1 in 20 were using it without medical advice. If you're taking a daily low-dose aspirin — 81 milligrams (mg) — but you're at low risk for heart disease, stroke, or bleeding risks (say, from a peptic ulcer), talk to your doctor as soon as possible about whether you should continue taking it. Aspirin therapy remains a mainstay for people with a high risk of having a heart attack.

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