Aspirin Said to Cut Heart Attacks 50% : Greatest Effect in Men Over 50 at Highest Risk, New Study Says

An aspirin every other day can cut the risk of heart attack in half for men over 50, according to the results of a new study to be published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

The decrease in heart attacks was greatest, furthermore, among men at high risk for suffering heart attacks, including those who smoke and those with diabetes, high cholesterol levels and hypertension.

Lesser benefits were observed in men under the age of 50 and among those who were already at low risk of suffering such attacks.

Preliminary results from the study of 22,071 male physicians were highly publicized in January, 1988, when the study was prematurely terminated because the benefits of aspirin therapy were so clear-cut. At that time, three-fourths of the patients who had not been receiving aspirin began taking it regularly.

The new report, based on extended observations of the physicians and a more thorough analysis of the data, provides new details about the risks of various subgroups of patients and alleviates one potential concern that had been raised in the preliminary report.

The first results suggested that regular use of aspirin, which reduces the tendency of blood to clot, might increase the risk of stroke. The new study, however, shows no significant difference in the number of strokes among patients who received aspirin and those who did not.