Regular Dose Of Aspirin May Harm The Elderly
Healthy elderly folks who take regular aspirin to prevent stroke may actually increase their risk.
Researchers at the University of Oxford noticed that there was an increase in the number of stroke sufferers over 75 who took blood thinning drugs, which are also known as antithrombotic drugs such as aspirin and warfarin.
The researchers went through the data on intracerebral hemorrhagic strokes (a type of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain) that occurred between 1981 and 1985, and between 2002 and 2006. They found that the incidence of such strokes had fallen in younger age groups but there was a slight increase in numbers of haemorrhages in the over-75s despite much better control of blood pressure.
The explanation for this lack of a fall in incidence in the elderly group appeared to be an increase in strokes associated with use of antithrombotic drugs. Whilst only four per cent of patients with haemorrhagic stroke were taking antithrombotic drugs in the 1981–86 study, this proportion had increased to 40 per cent by the 2001–06 study.
Source : “Caution urged about daily aspirin for healthy over-75s” University Of Oxford News 1 May 2007; ” Aspirin may increase stroke risk” BBC News 1 May 2007
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