Aspirin may not help to ward off heart attacks

A DAILY aspirin taken to ward off heart attacks could do more harm than good, researchers warn today.

Taking the drug regularly will not prevent victims of type-2 diabetes suffering a first cardiac arrest, they suggest.

New research conducted by the British Medical Journal found that people who showed no symptoms of heart disease received no benefit after regularly taking aspirin.

But the study found that for people who have already suffered a heart attack or stroke, the drug could reduce the risk of future related problems by a quarter.

The research, conducted by Professor Jill Belch of the Institute of Cardiovascular Research at Dundee University, warned that the drug was most effective if prescribed to people with more serious heart problems.

The report says: "A total of seven well-controlled trials now show that aspirin has no benefit for primary prevention of cardiovascular events, even in people at higher risk.

"Practitioners and authors of guidelines need to heed the evidence that aspirin should be prescribed only in patients with established symptomatic cardiovascular disease."

The study involved more than 1,200 middle-aged patients with type-1 or type-2 diabetes.