Your doctor may suggest that you take a daily low dose if you have had a stroke or a heart attack to help stop you having another one. Or, if you're at high risk of heart attack - for example, if you have had heart surgery or if you have chest pain caused by heart disease angina.
Low-dose aspirin comes as tablets. It's available on prescription. You can also buy it from pharmacies, shops and supermarkets. Children are sometimes treated with low-dose aspirin after heart surgery or to treat a rare illness called Kawasaki disease. Children should only take low-dose aspirin if their doctor prescribes it.
Taking low-dose aspirin to prevent heart attacks and strokes is not the same as taking aspirin as a painkiller. Read our information on aspirin for pain relief.
Take our survey. Most people aged 16 or over can safely take low-dose aspirin if their doctor recommends it. It's sometimes called baby aspirin because of the small dose, but it's not safe for children. Never give aspirin to a child younger than 16, unless their doctor prescribes it. There's a possible link between aspirin and Reye's syndrome in children.
Reye's syndrome is a very rare illness that can cause serious liver and brain damage. Never give aspirin to children younger than 16, unless their doctor prescribes it. To make sure low-dose aspirin is safe for you, tell your doctor if you have:.
Check with your doctor that it's safe for you to take low-dose aspirin if you're pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or if you want to breastfeed. Take low-dose aspirin once a day. Don't take it on an empty stomach. It's best to take it with or just after food. This will make it less likely to upset your stomach. Your doctor will discuss what dose is right for you.
It's important to take low-dose aspirin exactly as recommended by your doctor. The usual dose to prevent a heart attack or stroke is 75mg once a day a regular strength tablet for pain relief is mg. The daily dose may be higher - up to mg once a day - especially if you have just had a stroke, heart attack or heart bypass surgery.
You can buy low-dose enteric coated aspirin and low-dose soluble aspirin from pharmacies, shops and supermarkets. If you forget to take a dose of aspirin, take it as soon as you remember. If you don't remember until the following day, skip the missed dose.
If you forget doses often, it may help to set an alarm to remind you. You could also ask your pharmacist for advice on other ways to remember to take your medicine. The amount of aspirin that can lead to overdose varies from person to person. Get someone else to drive you or call for an ambulance. Take the aspirin packet or leaflet inside it, plus any remaining medicine, with you. Like all medicines, aspirin can cause side effects, although not everyone gets them.
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if the side effects bother you or don't go away:. It happens rarely, but some people have serious side effects after taking low-dose aspirin.
In rare cases, it's possible to have a serious allergic reaction to aspirin. It's generally safe to take low-dose aspirin during pregnancy, as long as your doctor has said it's OK.
For more information about how low-dose aspirin can affect you and your baby during pregnancy, read this leaflet on the Best Use of Medicines in Pregnancy BUMPS website. But your doctor may suggest that you take low-dose aspirin while you're breastfeeding if they think the benefits of the medicine outweigh the possible harm. Your Name:. Your Last Name:. Send Email Cancel. Doctors have been recommending an aspirin a day to help keep heart attacks at bay for years.
But did you know that taking an aspirin during a suspected heart attack increases chances of survival and minimizes damage to the heart? Heart Disease. Read 1 Comment. Related Articles. The Cardiologist wants to put it in my husband.
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By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for Subscribing Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Please try again. Something went wrong on our side, please try again. Show references Aspirin use to prevent cardiovascular disease: Preventive medication.
Preventive Services Task Force. Accessed Oct. Hennekens CH, et al. Aspirin for the secondary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Aspirin and heart disease. American Heart Association. Zheng SL, et al. Association of aspirin use for primary prevention with cardiovascular events and bleeding events: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Abdelaziz HK, et al. Aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular events. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Aspirin for reducing your risk of heart attack and stroke: Know the facts.
Food and Drug Administration. Aspirin: Questions and answers. Department of Health and Human Services and U. Department of Agriculture. IBM Micromedex. Lopez-Jimenez F expert opinion. Mayo Clinic. Aspirin use to prevent cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer: Preventive medication. Kopecky SL expert opinion. Spencer FA, et al.
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In particular, the USPSTF recommendations reported that taking aspirin on a daily basis likely reduces risk for colorectal cancer, but only after 5 to 10 years of use. Some research suggests that aspirin may be helpful in preventing other cancers, but more studies need to be done to understand whether the benefits of taking aspirin outweigh the risks.
Like all drugs, aspirin can cause side effects. Kidney failure is another possible side effect. Doctors typically prescribe daily aspirin therapy for people who have certain cardiovascular risk factors. Aspirin prevents blood clots from forming.
It may be helpful in the event of a heart attack, and it also prevents heart attacks. However, daily aspirin therapy is generally no longer recommended. They can help you understand whether daily aspirin is right for you. Increasing research now shows that taking aspirin daily, even at low doses, comes with serious bleeding risks.
Doctors and healthcare organizations…. An aspirin overdose is a potentially life-threatening condition that requires immediate medical treatment.
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