Aspirin Found to Have No Benefits for Older Adults

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found aspirin carries no benefits for older adults and may even lead to significant damage, reports WorldHealth.net . The researchers enrolled 35,817 adults 65 and older in Australia and the United States. Aspirin was found to ultimately offer zero health benefits to healthy seniors, and instead appeared to elevate risk of cancer and overall risk of death. Another study involving more than 9,000 participants who took painkillers like aspirin to treat respiratory infection were more than three times as likely to experience a heart attack than those who did not. Other reports indicated that aspirin does not prevent heart attacks, even in targeted populations, and it may cause more health issues. The National Institute on Aging's Evan Hadley advises seniors on aspirin to reconsider, as such studies give pause and reason for doctors and older men and women to think carefully about the choice of low-dose aspirin on a regular basis.