Heart Health - Aspirin

Which patients should take aspirin to prevent an initial heart attack or stroke?

New recommendations recommend 81mg of aspirin for men age 45 to 79 and women age 55 to 79. The benefits of taking aspirin are different for men and for women. For men, the benefit is to prevent a heart attack. For women, the primary benefit is to prevent as ischemic stroke. There is no evidence that higher doses of aspirin work better, plus they can increase bleeding risk.