Austin, TX Aspirin Therapy Medical Conference
Daily Aspirin Dose Could Prevent Heart Attacks
KXAN.com
Posted: Feb 21, 2008 01:10 PM EST
Could an aspirin a day keep a heart attack away? A thousand doctors and health care professionals from all over the country will talk about that at a conference on preventative medicine.
It kicks off this weekend in Austin.
There will be a huge emphasis on a little pill to prevent the nation's number one killer: heart disease.
The key to a longer and healthier life could lie in the palm of your hand: aspirin.
Dr. Mike Parkinson with The American College of Preventative Medicine said aspirin significantly reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke in a large number of Americans.
"The average American is at risk for heart disease," said Parkinson, "so we've done a little disservice by saying, 'You're either high-risk or you're not at risk.' We've got to assume that we all have some degree of risk. Men over 40, women over the age of 50, should talk to their doctors about whether or not aspirin is appropriate."
Yet, the Centers for Disease Control shows less than half of Americans in that age group take aspirin daily, but pharmacist Sharon Moore of The Medicine Shoppe in Central Austin said she knows better.
"By doing that and keeping your blood thin, then you don't have blood clots, and they don't go to your heart, and you have a stroke or a heart attack or something like that, so I've been taking aspirin for a long time," said Moore.
"It is grossly underutilized, because we don't think about it. We're not aware of it," said Parkinson.
Experts said if more people were aware of it, 45,000 lives could be saved.
Is it really safe to take aspirin every day?
"At those doses, which is anywhere from 50 to 325 milligrams, are safe and effective for doing what we want," said Parkinson.
A pilot project will be announced at a confrence at the Hilton Hotel for better ways doctors can talk to their patients about the role of aspirin in preventing heart problems. |
