Taking Aspirin to prevent heart attack or stroke
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PrintTaking aspirin (ASA) to prevent heart attack and stroke. Should I do it? Here is an "Ask Kelly" question. The answer refers to the most recent guidelines, specific to women, to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Question:
What does the current studies show in regards to the benefits of taking a baby aspirin daily to prevent strokes? I am 51 years old, on one year of simvastatin, and have a family history {father} with a stroke at 55. I take only simvastatin and a MVI. I am wondering about taking ASA for myself.
Answer:
The information that I am giving you comes from this article in Circulation: Evidence-Based Guidelines for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Women: 2007 Update. This is the most recent guideline written regarding your question. There has been some controversy about the risk vs benefits of taking ASA and at what dose to prevent heart attack and stroke.
As stated on the American Heart Association website regarding changes in these new guidelines: http://tinyurl.com/39dnjy
- Routine low dose aspirin therapy may be considered in women age 65 or older regardless of CVD risk status, if benefits are likely to outweigh other risks. (Previous guidelines did not recommend aspirin in lower risk or healthy women.)
- The upper dosage of aspirin for high-risk women increases to 325 mg per day rather than 162 mg. This brings the women’s guidelines up to date with other recently published guidelines.
The guideline specifically states the following on page 7, click this link to go to the guidelines http://tinyurl.com/ylz8ykn )
- Aspirin, high risk
- Aspirin therapy (75 to 325 mg/d) should be used in high-risk‡ women unless contraindicated (Class I, Level A).
- If a high-risk‡ woman is intolerant of aspirin therapy, clopidogrel should be substituted (Class I, Level B).
- Aspirin— other at-risk or healthy women
- In women > 65 years of age, consider aspirin therapy (81 mg daily or 100 mg every other day) if blood pressure is controlled and benefit for ischemic stroke and MI prevention is likely to outweigh risk of gastrointestinal bleeding and hemorrhagic stroke (Class IIa, Level B)
- and in women < 65 years of age when benefit for ischemic stroke prevention is likely to outweigh adverse effects of therapy (Class IIb, Level B).
Ok, with all that said, what does it mean to you? I would suggest that you talk with your own doctor about this as well. But according to the guidelines, you are a women at risk. Not considered high risk. So that still puts you in a gray category. Do you have risk for getting a stomach ulcer or stomach bleeding from taking ASA daily or every other day? Have you ever had that problem before? If yes, then the risk might out weigh the benefit here. If no, given your family history and that you are taking medication for your cholesterol (I assume that your blood pressure is normal since you do not mention it, otherwise this is another risk factor), then you may want to consider a low dose ASA.
I will go ahead and let you make your decision. It is clear if you are > 65 years old, but when younger, you need to still consider the side effects of taking ASA. I hope this information was helpful.
