Discontinuing Aspirin increases heart attack risk

Discontinuing Aspirin Increases Heart Attack Risk

Patients who discontinued aspirin faced a 20% higher risk of another heart attack within 8 years.

For people who have previously had a heart attack, taking a daily aspirin could reduce their risk of a repeat cardiac event or stroke, according to a recent Danish study.

The findings were presented at the ESC Congress 2023 in Amsterdam this week.

Dr. Anna Meta Kristensen of Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital in Denmark said :

"The key takeaway of our study is that patients who are non-adherent to aspirin therapy following myocardial infarction have an increased risk of a composite outcome consisting of recurrent myocardial infarction, stroke or death compared with adherent patients," she went on.

"However, the protective effect of aspirin appeared to decrease slightly over time from four years after myocardial infarction and onwards."

The researchers also found that among women or individuals older than 65, failure to take aspirin was not associated with adverse outcomes.

Those who did not continue taking the aspirin had a 29% higher risk of a recurrent heart attack, stroke or death at two years.

The risk increased to 40% at four years, to 31% at six years and 20% after eight years, the study found.