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Aspirin
protects
patients
at
high
risk
of
heart
attack
or
stroke
Aspirin
(or
another
antiplatelet
drug)
protects
patients
at
high
risk
of
serious
vascular
events,
such
as
heart
attack
or
stroke,
and
should
be
considered
routinely
for
all
such
patients,
concludes
a
study
in
this
week's
British
Medical
Journal..
Researchers
reviewed
287
trials,
involving
over
200,000
patients,
that
compared
an
antiplatelet
drug
with
a
control
or
compared
different
antiplatelet
drugs.
They
found
that
antiplatelet
therapy
reduced
the
risk
of
any
serious
vascular
event
by
about
one
quarter;
risk
of
non-fatal
heart
attack
was
reduced
by
one
third,
non-fatal
stroke
by
one
quarter,
and
vascular
death
by
one
sixth.
Low
dose
aspirin
(75-150mg
daily)
seemed
to
be
as
effective
as
higher
doses
for
long
term
use.
In
each
of
these
high
risk
categories,
the
benefits
of
antiplatelet
therapy
far
outweighed
any
hazards,
yet
only
about
half
(or
less)
of
all
patients
with
a
history
of
heart
attack,
angina,
or
heart
disease
are
currently
receiving
antiplatelet
therapy,
say
the
authors.
These
results
clearly
show
that
it
should
be
considered
routinely
for
all
patients
at
high
or
intermediate
risk
of
vascular
disease,
and
it
should
be
continued
for
as
long
as
the
risk
remains
high.
In
some
clinical
circumstances,
adding
a
second
antiplatelet
drug
to
aspirin
may
produce
additional
benefits,
but
more
research
into
this
strategy
is
needed,
they
conclude.
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