other risk factors,” said study lead author Dr. Rodrigo Fernandez-Jimenez. He’s a cardiologist and researcher at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research in Madrid, Spain.
The researchers stressed that the study wasn’t designed to prove cause and effect, only showing associations between aspirin use and heart health. The findings were published Dec. 11 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
While millions of aging Americans take a daily low-dose (81 milligrams) aspirin in hopes of reducing their odds for heart attack and cancer, new data has emerged casting the practice in doubt.
In fact, earlier this year, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology issued a joint statement that — at least in older people at low risk for heart disease — daily aspirin use was probably not worth it, given the added risk for bleeding tied to the drug.
Dr. Benjamin Hirsh directs preventive cardiology at Northwell Health’s Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. He reviewed the study and agreed that “physicians are accustomed to prescribing aspirin to patients with a