HEALTH MAIN LIVING WELL DIET & FITNESS MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS HEALTH A-Z

ASK AN EXPERT

Got a question about a health story in the news or a health topic? Here's your chance to get an answer. Send us your questions about general health topics, diet and fitness and mental health. If your question is chosen, it could be featured on CNN.com's health page with an answer from one of our health experts, or by a participant in the CNNhealth community.

Name*
Location*
Email*
Question*

* CNN encourages you to contribute a question. By submitting a question, you agree to the following terms found below.

Select a topic? (optional)

You may not post any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. By submitting your question, you hereby give CNN the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your questions(s) and accompanying personal identifying and other information you provide via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNN Privacy Statment.

Thank you for your question!

It will be reviewed and considered for posting on CNNHealth.com. Questions and comments are moderated by CNN and will not appear until after they have been reviewed and approved. Unfortunately, because of the voume of questions we receive, not all can be posted.

Submit another question or Go back to CNNHealth.com

Read answers from our experts: Living Well | Diet & Fitness | Mental Health | Conditions

CNN Medical Unit: Daily Dose (What's this?)

Share this on:

Mixx Facebook Twitter Digg delicious reddit MySpace StumbleUpon

Get the reporting, research and analysis behind on-air stories straight from the CNN Medical Unit, led by chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Does aspirin work for everyone?

Bottom Line: Discuss with your doctor whether you should take aspirin to fight heart disease risk

Next Daily Dose »

Aspirin helps protect a person from heart attacks by breaking up platelets in the blood.

Overview

Millions of Americans take aspirin to lower their risk for heart disease. Research in the British Medical Journal, released in January 2008, shows taking aspirin to fight heart disease may not be a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone.

Questions and answers

What did this study find?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent: About one-third of the adult U.S. population --more than 50 million people -- take aspirin to prevent heart disease. Aspirin has clear benefits for a lot of people in reducing cardiovascular risk. It's also cheap, relatively safe, and easy to use. But for years, doctors have noticed that it tends to work better for some patients than others. Canadian researchers looked at 20 studies involving patients with cardiovascular disease. Twenty-eight percent of the patients were classified as aspirin-resistant.

Being resistant to aspirin makes patients four times more likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke or even die from a pre-existing heart condition, compared to non-resistant patients. We're seeing more and more evidence that with aspirin, a universal approach isn't the best.

How do you know if you're aspirin-resistant? What can you do then?

Gupta: Aspirin helps protect a person from heart attacks by breaking up platelets in the blood that could form blood clots. Clots can block blood vessels and lead to chest pain or heart attack. Some people, particularly women, are resistant to aspirin's blood-thinning effects. A urine test is available that identifies high levels of a biological marker found in people who are resistant to aspirin. These people may benefit from alternative blood-thinning therapies or treatments that more effectively block blood clot formation. The Canadian researchers found that taking other drugs to thin the blood, such as clopidogrel or tirofiban, did not benefit patients in the study. The best advice is to talk to your doctor about using aspirin to cut your risk for heart disease.

E-mail to a friend