UPI
If you’ve had a heart attack, your doctor likely told you to take a low-dose aspirin daily to stave off a second heart attack or stroke, but most people don’t follow through with this advice over the long-term.
Those folks who don’t take daily low-dose aspirin consistently are more likely to have another heart attack, stroke or die compared with their counterparts who consistently take aspirin, a new study shows. Aspirin keeps platelets from clumping together, which can help prevent or reduce the blood clots that can cause heart attacks and strokes.
“Most people should be on lifelong aspirin after a heart attack,” said Dr. Deepak Bhatt, director of Mount Sinai Heart and professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York City.
“Long-term adherence to medication is a problem worldwide, including in the USA, and this is true even for inexpensive drugs such as aspirin, which can be life saving in heart attack patients,” said Bhatt, who had no role in the research.
The study was led by Dr. Anna Meta Kristensen of Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital in Frederiksberg, Denmark.
The researchers followed more than 40,100 people aged 40 or older who had a first-time heart attack from 2004 through 2017. The study team checked up on aspirin use two, four, six, and eight years after their heart attacks to see who was still taking daily aspirin regularly. Anyone using other blood thinners was not included in the study.
Denmark keeps a national registry of medication use including aspirin. People on aspirin for 80% or less of the time were considered to be non-adherent or not taking aspirin as prescribed. By contrast, folks who took aspirin more than 80% of the time were considered adherent.
People stopped consistently taking aspirin over time. At two years, 90% of heart attack survivors were still taking daily aspirin consistently, and this fell to 84% at four years, 82% at six years, and 81% at eight years, the study showed. People who didn’t take aspirin consistently were more likely to have another heart attack, a stroke or die at all follow-up points. At four years, the risk for nonadherent patients was 40% higher compared to patients who took low-dose aspirin as prescribed.
The research was scheduled for presentation Aug. 25 to 28, at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Amsterdam. Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
“This study emphasizes the importance of correctly taking aspirin after experiencing a first cardiovascular event,” said Dr. Silvia Castelletti, a cardiologist in Milan, Italy. “Doing so reduces the chances of having another heart attack, as well as the risks of stroke or death,” said Castelletti, who has no ties to the new research.
