Many people are confused over whether a daily aspirin for heart attack and stroke prevention would be beneficial because the media often presents conflicting viws regarding daily aspirin use. Many are worried that it may do them more harm than good.
Do you know if you have cardiovascular disease?
Research undeniably affirms that patients with known cardiovascular disease should take a daily anticoagulant (blood thinner). This is called secondary prevention, and in these patients, the benefits associated with reducing the rates of both heart attack and ischemic stroke outweigh the risk of a possible hemorrhage.
Some patients only need to take aspirin, but others may require prescription blood thinners. The struggle comes in defining risk for primary prevention (patients who have not yet had a cardiovascular event).
Instead of playing a guessing game with probabilities, there are tests that can directly detect hidden plaque in asymptomatic patients, helping to accurately identify patients truly at increased risk of a heart attack or stroke.
