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Aspirin to Prevent Heart Attack and Stroke

Table of Contents


Overview

Aspirin prevents blood clots from forming in the arteries. Doctors sometimes recommend daily aspirin for people at high risk of heart attack or stroke.

But taking aspirin isn't right for everyone, because it can cause serious bleeding. You and your doctor can decide if aspirin is a good choice for you.

Who should take aspirin

For people who have had a heart attack: Aspirin can help prevent a second heart attack. Your doctor has probably already prescribed aspirin for you.

For people who have had a stroke: Aspirin can help prevent a second stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA), which is often a warning sign of a stroke.

For people who have never had a heart attack or stroke: Talk to your doctor before you start taking aspirin every day. Aspirin lowers the risk of heart attack and stroke. But aspirin can also cause serious bleeding. You and your doctor can decide if aspirin is a good choice for you based on your risk of a heart attack and stroke and your risk of serious bleeding.

Aspirin may also be used by people who:

Who should not take aspirin

Experts recommend that most people who have never had a heart attack or stroke should not take aspirin. That's because for people who aren't at high risk of heart problems, the chance of bleeding from taking aspirin tends to outweigh the benefits.

Also, people who have certain health problems shouldn't take aspirin. These include people who:

How do you take aspirin safely?

How do you take it?

Talk to your doctor before taking daily aspirin. It's not right for everyone.

If you and your doctor decide that daily aspirin is right for you, your doctor will recommend a dose of aspirin and how often to take it. Low-dose aspirin (81 mg) is the most common dose used to prevent a heart attack or a stroke. A typical schedule is to take aspirin every day. Be sure you know what dose of aspirin to take and how often to take it.

Aspirin can cause serious bleeding. Be sure you get instructions about how to take aspirin safely.

How can aspirin prevent a heart attack or stroke?

Aspirin slows the blood's clotting action by reducing the clumping of platelets. Platelets are cells that clump together and help to form blood clots. Aspirin keeps platelets from clumping together, thus helping to prevent or reduce blood clots.

Most heart attacks and strokes are caused by blood clots. Blood clots can form in arteries and block the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle or part of the brain.

When taken daily after having a heart attack or stroke, aspirin helps prevent dangerous clots from happening again.

Daily aspirin may also be helpful for preventing clots in some people who are at high risk for a heart attack or stroke if they are also at low risk of bleeding problems, which can happen more while taking aspirin because it reduces clots. That's why it's important to talk to your doctor before starting daily aspirin.


References

Citations

  1. Arnett DK, et al. (2019). 2019 ACC/AHA guideline on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Circulation, published online March 17, 2019: CIR0000000000000678. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000678. Accessed March 26, 2019. [Erratum in Circulation, 140(11): e649–e650. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000725. Accessed September 10, 2019.]
  2. Zheng SL, Roddick AJ (2019). Association of aspirin use for primary prevention with cardiovascular events and bleeding events: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA, 321(3): 277–287. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.20578. Accessed April 30, 2019.

Credits for Aspirin to Prevent Heart Attack and Stroke

Current as of: June 24, 2023

Author: Healthwise Staff (https://www.healthwise.org/specialpages/legal/abouthw/en)
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