Baby Aspirin Harmful

Aspirin may not be the best choice for your health

Over the past year, various researchers reviewing the effects of taking baby aspirin daily have found more harm than good for healthy adults.

Low-dose or "baby" aspirin has been a popular recommendation for older Americans due to a belief that its blood-thinning effect could prevent heart disease. A CNN report notes, "Three recent large studies concluded that taking a daily low-dose aspirin is, at best, a waste of money for healthy older adults. At worst, it may raise their risk of internal bleeding and early death."

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heat Association have changed their recommendations to prescribe low-dose aspirin only for those at high risk of heart disease or those who already have heart disease. Experts have found the risk of excessive bleeding is too high to recommend low-dose aspirin for those at lower risk of heart disease, and they don't recommend aspirin for patients at high risk of bleeding.

CNN quotes Johns Hopkins cardiologist Dr. Roger Blumenthal: "Clinicians should be very selective in prescribing aspirin for people without known cardiovascular disease. It's much more important to optimize lifestyle habits and control blood pressure and cholesterol as opposed to recommending aspirin. Aspirin should be limited to people at the highest risk of cardiovascular disease and a very low risk of bleeding."

If you are taking baby aspirin daily, discuss the updated guidelines with your doctor and take a closer look at how you can improve your lifestyle habits.

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