Taking low-dose aspirin daily helps prevent heart attacks or strokes if you have had one before. However, it may increase your risk of bleeding if you have had no prior events.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have had a heart attack, stroke, stent, [or coronary] bypass surgery, [then] low-dose aspirin is really important to help prevent further events,\u201d James Udelson, MD<\/a>, chief of the division of cardiology at Tufts Medical Center, told Health.\n<\/p>\n However, for those who have not had one of these events, \u201cthe risks outweigh the benefits,\u201d said Dr. Udelson.\n<\/p>\n \u201cPlatelets are in our blood, and they help blood to clot,\u201d Anne Curtis, MD<\/a>, SUNY distinguished professor of medicine at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine, told Health.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have a cut or an injury, the fact that platelets will clump together and help stop bleeding is a good thing,” said Dr. Curtis.\n<\/p>\n However, if a person has plaque in their blood vessels, those platelets can stick to that plaque and cause blood clots, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Platelets also like to stick to stents\u2014mesh tubes that hold arteries or airways open\u2014or other foreign bodies.\n<\/p>\n Aspirin can lead to stomach and brain bleeding and, in serious cases, kidney failure. In older adults, it may also increase the risk of anemia.\n<\/p>\n Taking low-dose aspirin to prevent a cardiovascular event depends on whether you are using it for:\n<\/p>\n Primary prevention, meaning you have never had a heart attack or a stroke.Secondary prevention, meaning you have already had an event.<\/p>\n If you have already had a stroke or heart attack, the bleeding risks from aspirin do not outweigh the benefits.\n<\/p>\n \u201cFor secondary prevention, it\u2019s abundantly clear that aspirin should be used to help prevent that next event,\u201d Carlin S. Long, MD,<\/a> director of the Center for Prevention of Heart and Vascular Disease at the University of California, San Francisco, told Health.\n<\/p>\n But for the average person who has never had a stroke or heart attack, aspirin\u2019s cons generally outweigh its pros.\n<\/p>\n Exceptions include:\n<\/p>\n