Aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease?

This study did find a significant reduction in adverse cardiovascular outcomes with daily aspirin in people with diabetes, though there was also a similar magnitude of increased major bleeding. Still, many people would rather be hospitalized for bleeding and get a transfusion versus being hospitalized for a heart attack that causes permanent damage to the heart. Others may not see much difference between the two types of events and may prefer not to take an additional medication. Should you take a daily aspirin? So, where does this leave the average person who is worried about a heart attack and wants to do everything they can to reduce that risk? Again, for people with cardiovascular disease — secondary prevention — nothing about ARRIVE pertains to you. For otherwise healthy people at elevated risk for heart disease or stroke, make sure not to smoke, maintain a healthy weight and diet, and control elevated blood pressure and cholesterol with medications if needed. If you have diabetes, make sure that is controlled with diet and medications if diet alone is insufficient. The decision to start daily aspirin in otherwise healthy people is quite complex, with potential benefits and actual risks that on average are rather similar. Serious bleeding may occur. Online risk calculators (such as www.cvriskcalculator.com) might be somewhat useful in more objectively calculating the degree of cardiovascular risk. However, in the absence of diabetes, most otherwise healthy people sho...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Heart Health Source Type: blogs