Bayer Aspirin

Bayer Aspirin and Heart Attacks

Did you know that one Bayer aspirin a day might keep the doctor away? Aspirin is an anticoagulant, which means it helps reduce blood clotting. It also has a similar pain relieving effect to the Paracetamol which makes it a very useful resource. Brands like Bayer Aspirin are widely available at pharmacists.

When administered to patients suspecting a heart attack, Aspirin has been proven to reduce the risk by up to 23% , and when taken for 30 days following a heart attack can minimalise the possibility of further attacks.

Studies into the use of Aspirin as a remedy for heart attacks have concluded that as many as 10,000 lives could potentially be saved every year.

Low doses of aspirin are recommended for the secondary prevention of strokes and heart attacks. For both males and females diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, aspirin reduces the chance of a heart attack and ischaemic stroke by about a 5th. 

This translates to an absolute rate reduction from 8.2% to 6.7% of such events per year for people already with cardiovascular disease. Although aspirin also raises the risk of hemorrhagic stroke and other major bleeds by about twofold, these events are rare, and the balance of aspirin’s effects is positive. Thus, in secondary prevention trials, aspirin reduced the overall mortality by about a tenth.

For persons without cardiovascular problems, the benefits of aspirin are unclear. In the primary prevention trials aspirin decreased the overall incidence of heart attacks and ischaemic strokes by about a tenth. However, since these events were rare, the absolute reduction of their rate was low: from 0.57% to 0.51% per year. In addition, the risks of hemorrhagic strokes and gastrointestinal bleeding almost completely offset the benefits of aspirin. Thus, in the primary prevention trials aspirin did not change the overall mortality rate. Further trials are in progress.

While UK doctors prefer to administer Paracetamol as a pain relief drug, US and continental doctors have a preference for Aspirin.