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The latest health guidance on preventative aspirin use - PBS NewsHour
Oct 13, 2021 2 mins, 20 secs

Adults 60 or older should not necessarily take a daily aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke, according to a draft recommendation from the U.S.

Adults who are 60 years old or older should not necessarily take a daily aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke.

And I want to be as clear as possible about, exactly what is this advice for people who are over 60 and who are not yet taking a daily aspirin.

It has to do with preventing stroke and heart attacks, which account for one in three deaths.

So it is a very important recommendation for helping all people in this country stay healthy and live longer and better.

But, in particular, we used to recommend that people in there 60s speak with their clinician about whether starting aspirin would be right for them.

Bleeding risk increases as people get older.

And thus we have changed our draft recommendation to recommend not starting aspirin in their 60s?

Any time anyone is concerned about their stroke or heart attack risk, we would encourage them to speak with their clinician, who can then help them assess what their individual risk is for a stroke or heart attack, as well as whether or not aspirin is appropriate for them.

But, when we look at the evidence, the risk for people in their 60s and older, cancels out or balances out the benefits, so that we would not end up recommending it.

For people who are younger, we used to recommend starting aspiring.

But we now recommend that they speak with their clinician about aspirin, because the balance of benefits and harms is now closer.

So they should have a discussion with their clinician to see if aspirin is right for them.

And, again, this does not apply to people, as I understand it, who are already on a daily dose of aspirin; is that correct.

If you are already taking aspirin, this recommendation really focuses on people who are thinking about starting aspirin.

If you're already taking aspirin, you should speak with your clinician about whether or not that is appropriate for you.

For anyone who's concerned about their heart disease risk or their stroke risk, we would encourage them, as you mentioned, to speak with their clinician, because it's a balance of, what is your risk for having a stroke or heart attack and, as we have discovered with new information, what is your risk for a bleeding complication from aspirin, and thinking about that balance of benefit vs.

For people who are 60 and older, when we look at the evidence, we find that the risk of bleeding, which increases with age and exceeds the benefit for those who are 70 and older, and basically cancels out the benefits for people in their 60s.

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