Yet another difference between men and women

Well apart from the obvious ones we all know about; that men need more of the duvet and don’t eat as much as chocolate, it seems our aspirin response is different too. A daily aspirin for those men over 45 and women over 55 is often recommended as a preventive for heart attacks, but it seems that the benefit differs by gender.

Men do get fewer heart attacks with a daily dose, but it doesn’t affect women in the same way. Their benefit lies in the fact it reduces the risk of stroke, not of heart attacks.

New research published this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine has also focused on the possible dangers of regular aspirin use in causing gastrointestinal bleeding. This risk gets higher as the dose increases and the new recommendation is that no more than 75mg a day is just as effective as higher amounts. If you already have heart disease then taking 100mg or more of aspirin a day will not be of any benefit for the existing condition.