The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7350 p604
21 May 2005

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Bleeding risk offsets aspirin benefit in healthy over-70s

Benefits of low-dose aspirin on the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients aged 70 years or over who do not have overt cardiovascular disease are offset by increases in bleeding, a study published online has shown (BMJ Online First).

Epidemiological modelling in a hypothetical population of 20,000 Australian men and women showed that the benefits of routine use of low-dose aspirin in terms of reductions in incidence of myocardial infarction and ischaemic stroke were outweighed by increases in the incidence of gastrointestinal and intracranial bleeding.