According to the American learned society US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), it is at best useless and at worst dangerous to take low-dose aspirin daily in an effort to prevent a cardiovascular incident such as myocardial infarction or stroke, report our colleagues from Figaro Sunday, May 15, 2022. On the other hand, this type of treatment is indeed effective in secondary prevention, that is to say in people who have already had a cardiovascular incident.
An “individual decision” among 40-59 year olds
The USPSTF has therefore condemned, in its recommendations, the use of aspirin in primary prevention in people at risk aged 60 and over. At the same time, the organization estimates that the net profit is ” weak “ among 40-59 year olds with risk factors and that the “decision should be individual”.
However, aspirin has been recommended for many years in primary prevention in people at risk, since a study by the Physician Health Study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1989 before being generalized in the 2000s, recalls the daily.
A debate within the medical community
But for several years, the debate on the relevance of this treatment existed within the medical community. “The scientific data that led to the prescription of aspirin in primary prevention are of mediocre quality and methodologically questionable”declared to the Figaro Dr. Florian Zores, cardiologist in Strasbourg and author of the blog “Insuffisant cardiologue”.
Faced with the benefits, at best modest, but above all the hemorrhagic risk represented by aspirin in primary prevention, the USPSTF has decided to reconsider its initial recommendations. However, the treatment can remain applied in secondary prevention.
