Older people should definitely be taking an aspirin every day - here’s why

If you’re knocking on a bit (and particularly if you have a high risk of heart disease), you should take aspirin every day, a new study has suggested.

Previously, there’s been a bit of mixed messages about this – but a new USC study found that simply taking an aspirin every day could save hundreds of thousands of lives, and save health authorities billions.

The researchers used national data sets to assess what would happen if every American over 51 took aspirin every day.

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They found that doing so would prevent 11 cases of heart disease and four cases over cancer in every 1000 Americans between 51 and 79.

Lead author David B Agus of USC said, ‘Although the health benefits of aspirin are well established, few people take it.

‘Our study shows multiple health benefits and a reduction in health care spending from this simple, low-cost measure that should be considered a standard part of care for the appropriate patient.’