Stopping Daily Aspirin Increases Risk for Heart Attack
Up to half of all patients who take a daily aspirin to help prevent blood clots eventually halt their medication. That puts them at greater risk for having a heart attack.
A team of researchers examined data collected from about 40,000 patients in the United Kingdom who were ages 50 to 84 and who had been prescribed low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attack and other cardiovascular complications during a seven-year period. A low dose of aspirin is considered to be between 75 to 300 milligrams per day.
The team found that those who stopped taking aspirin within three years of beginning their therapy experienced a 60 percent rise in their risk for nonfatal heart attack. That result held true regardless of how long the patients had taken aspirin before they decided to stop. The finding translates into four additional heart attacks for every 1,000 patients during the year they stopped taking their aspirin.
Lead researcher Luis Garcia Rodriguez, M.D., at the Spanish Center for Pharmacoepidemiologic Research in Madrid, says patients should never stop taking prescribed aspirin unless there is a high risk of serious bleeding or their doctor recommends halting it.
Low-dose aspirin can reduce illness and death from heart disease, pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the lung), and colorectal cancer. It's also remarkably safe for all but those at risk of allergy or bleeding complications, and it's inexpensive.
In addition, aspirin helps prevent heart attacks in people who already have coronary artery disease.
"Our study highlights the need for greater awareness of the increased risk of cardiovascular events, such as [heart attack], that is associated with interruption of aspirin therapy," says Dr. Garcia Rodriguez. "If adherence to low-dose aspirin could be improved, the benefit obtained with low-dose aspirin in the general population would be increased."
Always talk with your health care provider to find out more information.
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A heart attack, also called myocardial infarction or MI, happens when blood flow to the heart muscle is blocked by plaque in the coronary arteries—blood vessels that supply blood to the heart. Sometimes, a piece of plaque will break off, causing a blood clot to form. The clot then blocks the flow of blood to the heart muscle, causing the heart attack.
These are the most common warning signs of a heart attack:
- Pain or discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back
- Chest discomfort with sweating
- Pain that spreads from the chest to the arm, neck, or jaw
- Shortness of breath, tiredness, or upset stomach; these symptoms are particularly common in women
If you are at risk for heart disease and have any of these symptoms, call 911 and seek medical attention immediately. Time is critical. The longer the blockage remains untreated, the more heart muscle will die. In addition, drugs that break down blockage in the arteries must be given within the first one to two hours after a heart attack to be most effective.
Always talk with your health care provider to find out more information.
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