Daily low-dose aspirin is best used as a preventive measure against heart disease for people in their 50s, top U.S. experts in preventive medicine have determined. 

 

People in their 60s also can take low-dose aspirin to reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke, but they will not benefit as much, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force stated in a set of draft recommendations issued Monday. 

 

The new guidelines serve as a refinement of the task force’s last set of aspirin recommendations. Published in 2009, they suggested that low-dose aspirin could help men 45 to 79 and women 55 to 79 prevent heart disease. 

 

“In this recommendation, we try to provide additional guidance about who is most likely to achieve benefits from aspirin,” said Dr. Doug Owens, a member of the task force and a professor of medicine at Stanford University. 

 

Based on new evidence, the task force concluded there’s insufficient evidence to recommend low-dose aspirin to prevent heart disease in people younger than 

50, or 70 and older.

 

 

The draft recommendations also noted for the first time that aspirin taken to prevent heart disease also appears to decrease risk of colon cancer.

 

 However, the task force is not recommending that aspirin be used solely to prevent colon cancer, Owens added. 

 

“We think for people taking aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease, there is an additional benefit for colorectal cancer protection,” Owens said. “We’re not recommending you take aspirin for colorectal cancer if you’re not at high risk for cardiovascular disease.”

 

The task force recommendations only apply to people at increased risk for heart disease, not people who have had a heart attack or stroke and are trying to prevent a second episode, said Dr. Elliott Antman, immediate past president of the American Heart Association. Antman is a professor and associate dean for clinical/translational research at Harvard Medical School in Boston. 

 

By Daily Trust