Aspirin Doesn't Prevent First Heart Attack, Stroke

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The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation for use of aspirin in people at high risk of heart disease cited five studies that included 50,000 people. But its report noted that "no trial showed a significant all-cause mortality difference between aspirin-treated and control groups."

Hiatt said that he served on an advisory committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that reviewed a request in 2003 by Bayer to extending the labeling of aspirin to include primary prevention in heart disease. "We couldn't support that request," he said.

Advertisements urging people to take aspirin to benefit the heart are accurate for those who already have had an event, both Belch and Hiatt said.

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"It works if you've already had a heart attack," Belch said. "But there is no proof for primary prevention, no proof at all."

"The evidence is solid that aspirin should be given to people with known heart disease," Hiatt said. "But the evidence for people who have risk factors for heart disease is different."

More information

Risks and possible benefits of aspirin for the heart are reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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