Daily aspirin may be useless, harmful for older healthy adults
- 6 years ago
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — Taking a daily low-dose aspirin may have no benefit, or might actually be harmful to healthy, older adults, according to a new study.
The study followed more than 19,000 people ages 65 and older in the United States and Australia for an average of 4.7 years, according to NPR. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Sunday.
Participants were given 100 milligrams of aspirin daily or a placebo.
According to NBC News, at the end of the trial period, 90.3 percent of the aspirin-treated patients were still alive, compared with 90.5 percent of those given placebos.
The rates of physical disability and dementia were similar in both groups, while the rates of coronary heart disease, heart attacks and strokes were also similar.
"We found there was no discernible benefit of aspirin on prolonging independent, healthy life for the elderly," said Anne Murray, a geriatrician and epidemiologist at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, who helped lead the study, according to NPR.
The study found a significant risk of internal gastric bleeding in the aspirin-treated group, as well as a slight increase in cancer deaths within the same group.
The study followed more than 19,000 people ages 65 and older in the United States and Australia for an average of 4.7 years, according to NPR. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Sunday.
Participants were given 100 milligrams of aspirin daily or a placebo.
According to NBC News, at the end of the trial period, 90.3 percent of the aspirin-treated patients were still alive, compared with 90.5 percent of those given placebos.
The rates of physical disability and dementia were similar in both groups, while the rates of coronary heart disease, heart attacks and strokes were also similar.
"We found there was no discernible benefit of aspirin on prolonging independent, healthy life for the elderly," said Anne Murray, a geriatrician and epidemiologist at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, who helped lead the study, according to NPR.
The study found a significant risk of internal gastric bleeding in the aspirin-treated group, as well as a slight increase in cancer deaths within the same group.