Aspirin is a widely used medicine known for reducing pain, swelling, and fever. It is also commonly taken by people at risk of heart attacks and strokes to help prevent blood clots. However, new research suggests that aspirin may not be safe for everyone, especially for people who already have certain risk factors for heart failure.
Heart failure is a long-term condition where the heart cannot pump blood as well as it should. This leads to symptoms like feeling very tired, struggling to breathe, and swelling in the legs and ankles. Heart failure does not mean the heart has stopped working completely, but it does mean that it is weaker than normal.
People with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, or other heart-related problems have a higher chance of developing this condition. While there is no cure, treatments like lifestyle changes, medicine, and sometimes surgery can help people manage it.
A team of scientists from the University of Freiburg looked at how aspirin use might affect the risk of developing heart failure. Their study included 30,827 people who were already at risk because they had at least one health condition linked to heart problems.
These conditions included smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and existing heart disease. The participants were all at least 40 years old, and none of them had been diagnosed with heart failure before the study started.
At the beginning of the study, researchers recorded who was taking aspirin and who was not. They then followed these people for five years to see how their health changed. During this time, 1,330 participants developed heart failure.
After analyzing the data, the researchers found that people who took aspirin were 26% more likely to develop heart failure compared to those who did not take the drug.
This increased risk remained the same even when researchers adjusted for other factors, such as age, weight, smoking, and existing heart conditions. The link between aspirin use and heart failure risk was also seen even after excluding people who already had a history of heart disease.
Because aspirin is commonly used, the researchers say it is important for doctors to be cautious when prescribing it to people who already have risk factors for heart failure. Around one in four people in the study was taking aspirin, which suggests that many people may be affected by this issue.
The scientists believe that more studies are needed to fully understand how aspirin might contribute to heart failure. Until more is known, they suggest that people who are at risk of heart failure should talk to their doctors about whether aspirin is the right choice for them.
This study was led by Dr. Blerim Mujaj and his team and was published in the journal ESC Heart Failure.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about how eating eggs can help reduce heart disease risk, and Vitamin K2 could help reduce heart disease risk.
For more information about health, please see recent studies that olive oil may help you live longer, and Vitamin C linked to lower risk of heart failure.
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