Aspirin lowers risk of stroke and heart attacks

A new study has revealed that low dose aspirin lowers the occurrence of new venous blood clots.

According to the study, low-dose aspirin can help to prevent new venous blood clots and other cardiovascular events among people who are at risk because they have already suffered a blood clot.

Lead researcher John Simes, University of Sydney Professor, said that the treatment effect of aspirin is less than can be achieved with warfarin or other new generation direct thrombin inhibitors, which can achieve more than an 80 per cent reduction in adverse circulatory and cardiopulmonary events, however, aspirin represents a useful treatment option for patients who are not candidates for anticoagulant drugs because of the expense or the increased risk of bleeding associated with anticoagulants.

The researchers found that compared to placebo patients, those who took 100mg daily of aspirin had a one-third reduction in the risk of, thromboembolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism, myocardial infarction (heart attack).

However, long-term anticoagulant drugs are expensive and inconvenient, requiring frequent regular blood tests and adjustments to the dosage. Further, there is an elevated risk that the treatment could cause bleeding in some patients. For people who are not able to cope with this, the viable alternative of taking regular aspirin will be a great benefit.

The scientists added that aspirin will be ideal in the many countries where prolonged anticoagulant treatment is too expensive. A major benefit of this treatment is its cost-effectiveness, as the drug is cheap, but it will save the treatment costs of the many recurrent clots that are prevented. This could mean a saving of millions of healthcare dollars worldwide.

The study was published in Circulation.