Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Aspirin Study 'Slays Beautiful Theory' About Benefits Of Daily Dose For Healthy Adults
The New York Times: Low-Dose Aspirin Late In Life? Healthy People May Not Need It
Should older people in good health start taking aspirin to prevent heart attacks, strokes, dementia and cancer? No, according to a study of more than 19,000 people, including whites 70 and older, and blacks and Hispanics 65 and older. They took low-dose aspirin — 100 milligrams — or a placebo every day for a median of 4.7 years. Aspirin did not help them — and may have done harm. (Grady, 9/16)
NPR: Risks From Daily Low-Dose Aspirin Outweigh Benefits For Healthy Seniors
Results released Sunday from a major study of low-dose aspirin contain a disappointing answer for older, otherwise healthy people. "We found there was no discernible benefit of aspirin on prolonging independent, healthy life for the elderly," says Anne Murray, a geriatrician and epidemiologist at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, who helped lead the study. The study involved more than 19,000 people ages 65 and older in the United States and Australia. The results were published in three papers in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Stein, 9/16)
The Washington Post: Low-Dose Aspirin Offers No Overall Benefit For Healthy Older People, Research Says
There is good evidence that taking aspirin can help people with known cardiovascular problems. But it had been unclear whether healthy people older than 70 would derive the same benefit. “Clinical guidelines note the benefits of aspirin for preventing heart attacks and strokes in persons with vascular conditions such as coronary artery disease,” Richard J. Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the research, said in a news release. “The concern has been uncertainty about whether aspirin is beneficial for otherwise healthy older people without those conditions.” (Bernstein, 9/16)
