Daily HealthBeat Tip

Sex and aspirin

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I�m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Regular low-dose aspirin can do a body good � but the kind of good seems to depend on the kind of body. A study finds the benefits of aspirin are different in men and women.

Researchers looked at data from six randomized trials of aspirin as preventive therapy for cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes. Their report was in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

David Brown of the State University of New York-Stony Brook School of Medicine:

"Aspirin treatment was associated with a 24-percent reduction in the risk of the most common type of stroke in women, and a 32-percent reduction in heart attacks in men." (nine seconds)

Why the difference? Researchers don�t know. Brown recommends people at risk for heart attack and stroke discuss aspirin with their doctor.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: April 4, 2006

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