Study calls for middle-aged patients to be prescribed aspirin
Middle-aged women and men should be prescribed aspirin as a counter-measure against cardiovascular disease, according to a study.
Researchers used data from The Health Improvement Network’s 304 GP surgeries in England and Wales.
They identified 989,434 patients aged between 30 and 74 years without diabetes who were suitable for the study.
The data was used to calculate the age when the 10-year cardiovascular risk of patients exceeded 10%.
Results showed that the turning point for patients without diabetes was 47.8 for men and 57.3 for women.
Authors wrote: ‘In the absence of significant bleeding risks, aspirin should routinely be considered to all men and women without diabetes above the ages of 48 and 57 years respectively for primary CVD prevention.’
Published online in Heart