Aspirin-a-day advice unheeded by those who need it, Stanford s...( h at least two risk factors for heart d...),Health

While less than a third of the high-risk patient visits were associated with aspirin therapy, the 2003 rates were even lower for those in the intermediate groups: 12 percent of the diabetic group and 16 percent for the non-diabetics.

Ma and Stafford acknowledged that measuring aspirin usage is difficult because doctors don't always document the over-the-counter medications their patients take. However, based on previous studies that found low rates of aspirin use, the researchers said they don't believe such under-reporting would account for the huge gap between the clinical recommendations and what they found in the new study.

One finding that intrigued the researchers is the growing popularity of statins, which help reduce the amount of LDL or "bad" cholesterol in the blood. Statins and aspirin have similar overall rates of effectiveness in reducing cardiovascular risk, but they vary significantly in cost. A daily dose of the most frequently prescribed statin medication costs around $2 while a daily dose of aspirin costs mere pennies.

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Contact: Susan Ipaktchian
susani@stanford.edu
650-725-5375
Stanford University Medical Center
14-Nov-2005