Are you taking Aspirin? … read this. Here’s a rough summary after reading this valuable article by Eric Topol

Here is the bottom line for this

Aspirin Is Not a Blood Thinner

• Aspirin reduces platelet aggregation

• It does not thin blood like anticoagulants (e.g., warfarin, apixaban)

• Taking higher doses (e.g., 325 mg) increases harm without benefit

Key Distinction

• 🚫 If someone has never had a cardiovascular event, aspirin provides little benefit and increases bleeding risk.

• ✅ If someone has already had a heart attack, stroke, or stent, aspirin helps prevent another event.

Bottom Line

• Strong evidence against aspirin for primary prevention in adults ≥60–70

• Benefits do not outweigh bleeding risk

• Medical practice has been slow to change despite high-quality data

• This remains one of the clearest examples of a persistent medical myth 📉

Cancer prevention: what ASPREE actually showed

• In healthy older adults, aspirin was linked to higher cancer-related mortality.

• At the same time, aspirin showed a small reduction in new cancer diagnoses, suggesting fewer cancers developed but outcomes were worse once cancer occurred.

• Any potential benefit appears limited to a subgroup with clonal hematopoiesis (CHIP), a common age-related condition that is not currently tested for in routine care.

Bottom line: Aspirin is not recommended for cancer prevention in older adults.

• Not ready for clinical use