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I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Health Report.
A lot of older people take low-strength aspirin on the advice of their
doctor to help reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. Doctors have
based such advice mostly on studies of men.
Now, a major study confirms that aspirin can help women as well. But
experts say the drug helps women differently. The findings appeared this
month in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Doctor Julie Buring at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston,
Massachusetts, led the study. Doctor Buring says that among apparently
healthy people, aspirin reduces the risk of heart attack for men. But for
women it appears to reduce the risk of stroke.
The study involved 40,000 women age 45 and older. Those who received
aspirin took 100 milligrams every other day. The others took a placebo, an inactive pill.
The study lasted ten years. The researchers found that the women who
took aspirin were 17 percent less likely to have a stroke than the other
group. The aspirin group also had a 24 percent lower risk for the most
common form of stroke. This is caused by a clot in the blood supply to the
brain. Blood clots can cause both strokes and heart attacks. Aspirin thins
the blood, so clots are less likely to form.
The researchers found that aspirin had an even greater effect in women
age 65 and older. Those who took aspirin were 30 percent less likely to
have a stroke caused by a blood clot. They were also less likely to suffer
a heart attack than those given a placebo.
However, the study found that aspirin did not lower the risk of heart
attack in younger women. And there were more cases of stomach bleeding in
the women who took aspirin than in those who did not. Experts say this
shows that, in general, the risks from aspirin use in younger women could
be greater than the good it might do.
Aspirin can cause bleeding. It can also cause a bad reaction with other
medicines. People who want to begin aspirin treatment are advised to talk
to their doctor first.
Experts are not sure why men and women react differently to aspirin
treatment. But Doctor Buring notes at least one similarity. She says
aspirin has been clearly shown to improve the survival chances for anyone
who has already had a heart attack or stroke.
This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. I'm
Gwen Outen. | 
