race, are easily made, Hirsh said.
“We now have multiple tools including imaging scans, such as coronary calcium scores, which help identify individual risk to guide the recommendation for aspirin,” Hirsh explained. “We need to individualize our patients’ risk of heart disease in order to determine who will be most likely to benefit from aspirin.”
That’s in keeping with American Heart Association guidelines, which now advise that decisions about aspirin use must be based on a patient’s specific health status, in consultation with their physician.
For more information on heart disease prevention, check out The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SOURCES: Satjit Bhusri, M.D., cardiologist, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; Benjamin Hirsh, M.D., director, preventive cardiology, Northwell Health Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital, Manhasset, N.Y.; Journal of the American Heart Association, news release, Dec. 11, 2019