Low-Dose Aspirin Linked To Bleeding In The Skull, New Report Says

(CNN) — Taking low-dose aspirin to prevent heart disease and stroke is associated with an increased risk of bleeding in the skull in people without a history of those conditions, according to a new report. Researchers analyzed data from 13 previous studies in which over 130,000 people ages 42 to 74, who didn’t have a history of heart disease or stroke, were given either aspirin or a placebo for the prevention of these conditions. All the trials reported on the risk of head bleeding. People who took the placebo had a 0.46% risk of having a head bleed during the combined trial periods. For those who took aspirin, the risk was 0.63%, the equivalent of an additional 2 out of every 1,000 people developing a bleed, according to the study, published Monday in the journal JAMA Neurology. People from Asian backgrounds and those with a body mass index under 25 had the highest risk. Taking a low-dose aspirin every day had formerly been recommended for older adults because of aspirin’s known ability to prevent platelets from forming a clot. In people who have fatty deposits in their arteries, known as artherosclerotic plaques, the plaques can break off and trigger clotting, obstructing blood flow to the heart or brain. Although aspirin would in theory stop this process, previous studies had offered conflicting evidence on whether prescribing it increases the risk of bleeding in the skull, the authors of the new research explained. Three recent large studies concluded th...
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