Product Targets Heart Disease, Osteoporosis

As women age, they’re often advised to take a daily dose of aspirin, especially if they’re at high risk for heart disease, the No. 1 killer of women. They also need to make sure they get enough calcium to avoid osteoporosis. Now it may be easier to do both.

Bayer Women’s Aspirin Plus Calcium, targeted to postmenopausal women, provides 81 milligrams of aspirin, the lowest dose considered effective for prevention of heart attacks. It combines that with 300 milligrams of calcium, about one-quarter to one-fifth of the calcium an older woman needs each day to keep her bones strong--equivalent to what she’d get from a glass of milk.

Dr. Debra R. Judelson, a Beverly Hills cardiologist, has been speaking out for years about the need for such a product and welcomed it. It’s the first of its kind.

“I don’t see women responding to the need to take aspirin to reduce their risk for heart disease,” said Judelson, who is among the authors of the American Heart Assn. and American College of Cardiology guide to preventive cardiology for women.

“It enables me to roll my messages together and hit home with people. This is something they need to be using.”

--Jane E. Allen