Aspirin risks outweigh benefits for people without artery disease, say BHF

3 March 2010

In response to research – part funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) - first presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona in August 2009 and now released in JAMA about the Aspirin for Asymptomatic Atherosclerosis Trial, BHF Medical Director Professor Peter Weissberg said:

"We know that a small daily dose of aspirin can reduce the risk of a heart attack in people with angina and in those who've had a heart attack. In these cases, this potential benefit outweighs the risk of internal bleeding, which is a side effect of aspirin.

"This study sought to determine if people with evidence of artery disease in their legs – which raises the risk of having a heart attack in future – would also benefit from taking daily aspirin.

"The results show that these people don't gain any heart-protective benefit from taking a daily dose of aspirin and were more prone to internal bleeding complications than people who took a placebo.

"The findings 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."

---

Press releases, papers and documents published on this page are the intellectual property of an organisation unrelated to ePolitix.com. We promote their parliamentary and political campaigning activities as they are subscribers to the ePolitix.com service.

As such, ePolitix.com does not edit, endorse, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases and other such types of content are the responsibility of the originating organisation.