Aspirin should be taken daily by Heart attack patients to avoid a new heart attack, stroke and death

The researchers analyzed whether patients who did not take aspirin as prescribed had a higher risk of the composite outcome of recurrent heart attack, stroke, or death compared with those who consistently took aspirin. A number of factors that might affect the results were taken into account including age, sex, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, kidney disease, cancer, stomach ulcers, previous bleeding events, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

At each time point, patients who took aspirin as prescribed were less likely to experience the composite outcome compared with non-adherent patients. Compared with adherent patients, non-adherent patients had a 29%, 40%, 31%, and 20% higher likelihood of recurrent heart attack, stroke, or death at two, four, six, and eight years following the heart attack, respectively.

Reference: Dr. Anna Meta Kristensen et al, European Society of Cardiology