Taking aspirin every day really could extend your life. I've changed my mind after years of scepticism, writes PROFESSOR ROB GALLOWAY By Professor Rob Galloway Published: 21:00 EDT, 7 October 2024 | Updated: 21:05 EDT, 7 October 2024 e-mail View comments As you would expect, a big part of my job as an A&E doctor is to prescribe medication and treatment. But what you might not expect is that what I prescribe often changes.
That's all down to the latest available evidence: and whether you should take aspirin is a case in point. Until just a couple of months ago, I personally wouldn't take a daily aspirin – nor did I advocate it for patients, unless they had specific risk factors such as a previous heart attack or following a stroke. That was because of the risks of stomach bleeding – some studies show a daily dose increases the risk of a bleed by up to 50 per cent.
New evidence published in the journal Cancer suggests the benefits of a daily 75mg 'baby' aspirin outweigh the risks This sounds a lot but as only one in 1,000 patients get a significant bleed, there needs to be 2,000 people on aspirin to cause one extra patient to suffer. And now there's compelling new evidence, published recently in the journal Cancer , that has convinced me that the benefits of a daily 75mg 'baby' aspirin outweigh this risk for me, at least. So I now take it every morning to try to improve my chances of living a longer, healthier life – and I think it's something you might wish t.