Aspirin benefits more men than previously thought

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Taking aspirin for prevention of heart disease is beneficial for a wide range of men.
It is already known that aspirin can protect against coronary heart disease, but more needs to be discovered about who benefits most. A team at the University of Carolina sheds new light on this issue with a study of men.

Compared to no treatment, aspirin was both less costly and more effective for preventing heart attacks and related events among men whose ten year risk for heart disease was 7.5 per cent or more. Before this new study, it was believed that aspirin could only really benefit men whose risk was ten per cent or more. The researchers also feel aspirin would help men with a risk of five to ten per cent, but not those whose risk is less than five per cent. At these low risk levels, the chance of adverse effects from aspirin would cancel the minimal benefit.

What is more, adding a statin to lower cholesterol only gave extra benefit for men whose heart risk was more than ten per cent. The findings suggest that men should talk to their doctors about aspirin therapy - it may be they are not receiving it when they have much to gain.

Source
Annals of Internal Medicine 7th March 2006