Aspirin Advice For Women in Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention

1. Most large aspirin trials didn’t include women, and luckily that is starting to change.
2. There are other ways to prevent strokes and heart attacks other than aspirin; so never view your aspirin use in isolation of an overall assessment of risk.
3. If you take a daily aspirin for prevention, you may actually risk causing bleeding and suffer worse health consequences, new data indicates that daily aspirin increases risk for anemia, if you are on aspirin daily get your blood count checked
4. If you are on a statin, there is probably minimal to no benefit to adding in an aspirin to your daily health regimen.
5. The risk of stoke goes up with menopause, women have fewer strokes prior to menopause than men, after menopause they have more. Risk of stroke in women may come down to a compound the body produces from estrogen known as 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME), in other words some built-in stroke prevention that helps the brain heal. So for stroke prevention, men would need to start earlier than women taking regular aspirin, although always ask your personal physician!
6. According to the study Risk of stroke in women may come down to a compound the body produces from estrogen known as 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME), in other words some built in stroke prevention that helps the brain heal. Men have such lower levels of estrogen, they just never get enough of this compound to be protective.
7. The newest data shows women who had breast cancer and then take aspirin have fewer recurrences. We know that women can get lower ovarian cancer if they take aspirin. The both men and women could benefit from aspirin as colon cancer protection
8. Researchers have discovered that aspirin protects against certain cardiovascular events but may also protect against some forms of cancer¹. However, it is important to note that taking low-dose aspirin may cause bleeding and suffer worse health consequences¹.

We at Women’s Heath Practice specialize in hormone and weight management. Come to make an appointment to discuss your alternatives.