Aspirin cuts stroke risk in women, heart attacks in men

Aspirin reduces cardiovascular risks differently in men and women, lowering the risk of heart attack more in men and the risk of stroke more in women, a new study has revealed.

Although the effect of aspirin on cardiovascular events is widely acknowledged, the research from scientists at Duke University Medical Centre in the US, suggests that the major reasons for the risk reduction differed in both sexes.

The use of aspirin also caused an increased risk of bleeding among both sexes.

In the study of over 95,000 patients, the researchers used a low-dose of aspirin versus a placebo to measure the level of cardiovascular risk.

They found that aspirin produced a 12 per cent reduction in cardiovascular risk for women, and a 14 per cent reduction for men.

“This is good news because many of the past studies of the effect of aspirin in preventing cardiovascular events looked only at men, so physicians were reluctant to prescribe aspirin for women because there was little data,” said lead author Dr Jeffrey Berger.

“But now, the combined data of recent trials involving women demonstrates that women can benefit just as much from aspirin therapy as men,” she added.

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