Aspirin is a well-known drug, often used to prevent heart disease and stroke.
Many elderly individuals take aspirin regularly, but sometimes it can cause serious bleeding in the stomach.
The ASPREE Study: The Big Question
A part of a larger study named ASPREE, done by Mark R. Nelson and his team from the University of Tasmania, looked at what happens when older people who were taking aspirin stop using it.
This research focused on people who were 70 years or older, and were taking aspirin at least twice a week before the study started.
The researchers assigned these people randomly into two groups. One group stopped taking aspirin (placebo group), while the other continued (aspirin group).
The main thing the researchers wanted to find out was whether stopping or continuing aspirin would affect things like death rates, onset of dementia, or long-term physical disability.
The Results: Clear as Mud
The study included 19,114 people, and 11 percent of them were already using aspirin before the study. Among them, 1,714 people were taking aspirin two or more days per week.
After watching these people for about five years, the researchers found something interesting but confusing.
People who stopped taking aspirin seemed to have a slightly higher risk for things like death, dementia, and physical disability, but the difference was small. Also, this higher risk was mainly seen in non-White participants.
For people who had been taking aspirin for five years or longer, stopping the drug seemed to increase the risk of heart disease. However, stopping aspirin did not seem to affect other health problems.
What to Do with These Findings?
So, should older adults stop taking aspirin or not? The study doesn’t provide a clear answer.
However, the researchers suggest that people who take a lot of different medications might want to consider stopping aspirin, but they should do so carefully.
The Bottom Line
Aspirin can help prevent heart disease, but it can also cause problems, especially in the stomach.
Whether to stop or continue taking aspirin in old age is a complex question and depends on each person’s situation. It’s crucial to talk to your doctor about this and make a careful decision.
If you care about aspirin, please read studies about why aspirin can prevent colon cancer, and taking aspirin for heart health? Ask your doctor first.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about how to reverse heart failure with diet, and results showing cannabis and heart attack: what you need to know.
The study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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