Researchers have found in an analysis of previous studies, that the use of aspirin significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular events in women and in men.
They say it reduces the risk of strokes in women and reduces the risk of heart attacks in men.
The researchers led by Dr. Jeffrey S. Berger, M.D., M.S., of Duke University, Durham, N.C., performed an analysis by looking at sex-specific aspirin therapy in preventing cardiovascular events in order to see whether men and women respond differently to aspirin.
The benefits of aspirin therapy for reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death, among men and women with a pre-existing cardiovascular disease, is well known, but the role of aspirin in prevention is less clear.
Until now it has also been unclear whether the benefit differs between men and women.
The team conducted a search of databases to identify randomized controlled trials of aspirin therapy in participants without cardiovascular disease.
They found six trials with a total of 95,456 individuals; 3 trials included only men, 1 included only women, and 2 included both sexes.
They then looked at the combined endpoint of any major cardiovascular event and each of these individual events separately.
The researchers found that among the 51,342 women, there were 625 strokes, 469 heart attacks, and 364 cardiovascular deaths.
Aspirin therapy was found to be linked to a significant 12 percent reduction in cardiovascular events and a 17 percent reduction in stroke, which was a reflection of a 24 percent reduced rate of ischemic stroke.
There appeared to be no significant effect on heart attacks or cardiovascular deaths in women.