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Low-Dose Aspirin Therapy - Topic Overview
Why take low-dose aspirin?
Good old aspirin, the common pain reliever that has been in our medicine cabinets for almost a century, also has a talent for prevention. Aspirin can help prevent a heart attack or a stroke in people who have never had a heart attack or stroke. Aspirin has been proved to prevent a first and second heart attack in people who have coronary artery disease.1 It also reduces the risk of having a stroke in those who have had a previous stroke or a transient ischemic attack (a temporary interruption of blood flow to the brain), which is often a warning sign of an impending stroke.2 When taken during and after a heart attack, aspirin can reduce your chances of dying.3
Who should take low-dose aspirin?
It has been well documented that aspirin reduces the risk of heart attack in people with known coronary artery disease (CAD). It is also now understood that aspirin lowers the risk of having symptoms for people who have a higher risk for the disease. People who are at high risk for coronary artery disease or who already have coronary artery disease benefit the most from aspirin therapy.
You can take aspirin to help you during a heart attack. After you call 911 or other emergency services, chew 1 adult-strength (325 mg) or 2 to 4 low-dose (81 mg) aspirin if you are not allergic to aspirin and if there is no other reason that you can't take aspirin. Aspirin slows blood clotting, so a blood clot that is causing the heart attack stays smaller.
You may also take low-dose aspirin (81 mg) every day to help lower the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Low-dose aspirin may be used:
- After a heart attack, to prevent another one.
- By people who have coronary artery disease.
- By people with stable angina.
- By people with unstable angina.
- After bypass surgery or angioplasty.
- By people who have had a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).
- After surgery to prevent a stroke (carotid endarterectomy).
- By healthy men over age 45 when the benefits of aspirin to prevent a heart attack are greater than the risk of stomach bleeding from taking daily aspirin.
- By healthy women over age 55 when the benefits of aspirin to prevent a stroke are greater than the risk of stomach bleeding from taking daily aspirin.
If you have atrial fibrillation and cannot take or choose not to take warfarin, you may take an adult-strength aspirin (325 mg) every day to help lower the risk of a stroke.
Aspirin protects you from having a clot-related stroke in the same way it protects you from having a heart attack.
Aspirin slows the blood's clotting action by reducing the clumping of platelets. Platelets are cells that clump together and help to form blood clots. Aspirin keeps platelets from clumping together, thus helping to prevent or reduce blood clots.
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
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