Should you take daily Aspirin to prevent a heart attack?

As a results of three trials, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) issued updated aspirin recommendations in March. They advise against routine aspirin use in people older than 70 years and those with increased bleeding risk. Routine aspirin may be considered in adults 40 to 70 years of age at high risk for CV disease with no increased bleeding risk, they state. “People may think that because it’s over the counter and it’s been called ‘the wonder drug’ for 30 years it must be pretty safe,” Susan Smyth, MD, PhD, told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology. “Now we have to work to get the word out to talk to your doctor first before starting aspirin,” said Smyth, Gill Heart and Vascular Institute, University of Kentucky, Lexington, who is not associated with the current analysis. “As physicians, we are reasonably good at implementing guideline-directed medical therapy when we know something works. What we don’t do a very good job at is de-implementing when we learn that it maybe doesn’t work so well. De-implementation is much harder,” she said. However, she said, it’s equally important to remember that for patients at high risk and those with known coronary disease, aspirin remains a key component of lowering the risk of having a first or second heart attack or stroke. (Text taken from Medscape)