Researchers at UMC Utrecht have found that daily aspirin use to prevent cardiovascular disease provides little benefit for most healthy women. This conclusion comes from an analysis of data from the Women's Health Study, involving nearly 40,000 women aged 45 and older who took aspirin or a placebo for ten years.
In the United States, physicians often prescribe low-dose aspirin preventively for heart health, while Dutch doctors are far more cautious with healthy patients.
Daily aspirin intake carries a higher risk of eye disorders. For nine out of ten women, the reduction in cardiovascular risk is just 1% or less. It may offer slightly more benefit for some women over 65.
These findings have implications for the so-called polypill, a daily preventive medication combining cholesterol-lowering agents, blood pressure reducers, and aspirin. Researchers argue aspirin should be omitted from polypills for healthy individuals.
The study was published this month in the European Heart Journal.
