The US Preventive Services Task Force has warned adults aged 60 and older to take a daily aspirin, in order to maintain a healthy heart and not be exposed to the risk of stroke, and scientists explained that new evidence shows that the potential harms of taking aspirin on a daily basis as a preventive measure cancel out the benefits. According to the website,CNN“American.
The US Preventive Services Task Force published a draft statement recommending that adults ages 40 to 59 who are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease — but do not have a history of the disease — decide with their doctor whether to start taking aspirin, depending on their individual circumstances. .
This is the first time the task force has recommended adults in their 40s to talk to their doctors about whether or not to take aspirin for heart health.
Experts also made it clear that adults 60 and older should not start taking aspirin to prevent heart disease and stroke because new evidence shows potential harms outweigh benefits, according to the US Preventive Services Task Force.
“People 60 years of age or older should not take daily aspirin to prevent a heart attack or stroke,” US Preventive Services Task Force member Dr. Shane Wen Tseng said in a statement.
However, this USPSF recommendation is not for people who are already taking aspirin for a previous heart attack or stroke; They should continue to do so unless the doctor tells them otherwise.”
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, causing about 1 in 4 deaths.
While taking a daily low-dose aspirin has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke in some people, doing so also comes with a risk of potential bleeding in the stomach, intestines and brain.
“Taking a daily aspirin may help prevent heart attacks and strokes in some people, but it may also cause potentially serious harm, such as internal bleeding,” task force member Dr John Wong said in a statement. 40 and 59 years old with no history of heart disease had a conversation with their clinician to decide together if starting aspirin is right for them.”
The task force last made a recommendation on daily aspirin use was in 2016 when it said the decision to start taking low-dose aspirin “should be individualized” for adults aged 60 to 69. At the time, the task force recommended daily low-dose aspirin for adults aged 50 to 59 years who had a 10% or greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease and had no increased incidence of bleeding.
The new draft recommendation updates the task force’s final recommendation for 2016 on the use of aspirin to prevent cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer — but the new draft focuses only on preventing cardiovascular disease and calls for more research on aspirin to prevent colorectal cancer. .
Other groups have previously cited the risks of taking a daily low-dose aspirin as negating the benefits.
In 2019, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association released guidelines saying that daily low-dose aspirin is no longer recommended as a preventative for older adults who do not have high risk or existing heart disease.
In 2018, three studies were published in the journal New England Journal of Medicine She suggests that daily low-dose aspirin does not provide significant health benefits for healthy older adults. Alternatively, it may cause serious harm to them.