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A New Focus on Aspirin in Preventing Strokes

They happen all the time: little glitches in consciousness or control of our bodies. Especially with age. Sometimes they’re actually seizures of some mild variety, or migraines. Other times they are critical interruptions in the flow of blood to the brain.

When these episodes happen, some people feel weak or numb in a particular part or region of their body. Others have difficulty finding words, or blurry vision. The potential symptoms are so diverse that many of us, doctors included, are bad at recognizing or acting on them.

When the blood is away long enough that brain cells die in appreciable numbers, this is a stroke. More often, though, the blood returns quickly,…

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 Aspirin for prevention: Know your risk of heart attack or stroke

Except for smokers and those with diabetes, younger women (under 50) and men (under 40) are unlikely to benefit from aspirin.

 Jury still out on aspirin a day to prevent heart attack and stroke

The jury is still out on whether people at moderate risk of a first heart attack or stroke should take daily aspirin to lower their risk, according to late breaking results from the ARRIVE study.

 Low-Dose Aspirin Late in Life? Healthy People May Not Need It

Should older people in good health start taking aspirin to prevent heart attacks, strokes, dementia and cancer? No, according to a study of more than 19,000 people, including whites 70 and older, and blacks and Hispanics 65 and older. They took low-dose aspirin — 100 milligrams — or a placebo every day for a median of 4.7 years. Aspirin did not help them — and may have done harm.

Articles of Interest

Aspirin for Reducing Your Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke: Know the Facts

Aspirin has been shown to be helpful when used daily to lower the risk of heart attack, clot-related strokes and other blood flow problems in patients who have cardiovascular disease or who have already had a heart attack or stroke. Many medical professionals prescribe aspirin for these uses. There may be a benefit to daily aspirin use for you if you have some kind of heart or blood vessel disease, or if you have evidence of poor blood flow to the brain. However, the risks of long-term aspirin use may be greater than the benefits if there are no signs of, or risk factors for heart or blood vessel disease.

Daily low-dose aspirin can prevent heart attack and stroke but is often misused

Aspirin is often hailed as a wonder drug, thanks to its ability to help stave off heart attacks and clot-caused strokes. But fewer than half of people who could benefit from a daily low-dose aspirin take it, while many others take it when they shouldn't, reports the January 2014 Harvard Heart Letter.

Stopping daily aspirin increases heart attack, stroke risk

For heart attack survivors and people at high risk for one, a low-dose aspirin is part of the daily routine to prevent a heart attack or stroke. But for those who don’t stick to that routine, the rate of heart attacks, strokes or deaths from one of those causes goes up 37 percent, a new study shows.

Taking aspirin raises your chance of surviving a stroke

Patients who take 75mg of aspirin a day, or other blood-thinning medication, are more likely to survive if they have a stroke, according to a study published in the journal Stroke.