Study Finds no Evidence that an Aspirin a Day Lowers Risk of Fractures in Healthy Older People

Study Finds no Evidence that an Aspirin a Day Lowers Risk of Fractures in Healthy Older People

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A group of investigators associated with multiple organizations in Australia and the United States has discovered that taking an aspirin daily does not reduce the danger of bone ruptures in healthy older individuals. In their paper publicized in JAMA Internal Medicine, the team explains their investigation, which contained providing hundreds of more senior individuals a daily dosage of either aspirin or a placebo.

A prior study has recommended that older individuals could take advantage from taking a quantity of aspirin every day. The main advantage is a reduced danger of cardiac arrest. Still, some in the medical domain have recommended that it could also reduce physical decline by reducing cerebrovascular occasions or perhaps decreasing cognitive decline. In this current effort, the researchers questioned if taking an aspirin daily could likewise minimize the danger of fracture during accidents such as falling down.

To discover, the researchers performed an ASPREE-FRACTURE sub-study– they asked 16,703 older people staying in a retirement community (that did not have a physical disability, struggle with dementia, or have cardiovascular disease) to take a pill every day– roughly half were given a reduced dosage of aspirin. In contrast, the other half got a placebo. The research study was conducted throughout the years 2010 to 2014 and also included adhering to the medical records of the volunteers to track events that resulted in bone fractures.

The investigators discovered that providing the volunteers aspirin did not reduce the probability of bone fractures throughout crashes. They were also amazed to find that the group obtaining the aspirin experienced 17% more severe falls than the placebo group.

The investigators could not describe the greater rate of severe falls in the aspirin group; however, they recommend that it might have been due to the aspirin impacting the capacity to prevent falling. The researchers take note that the finding was doubly surprising because it counteracted the idea that individuals less inclined to establishing dementia or heart disease (due to taking aspirin) would seem to be much less likely to experience falls.

They likewise acknowledge that there were limitations in the study that might have affected the outcomes, such as an incapability to generalize findings that would consist of less healthy older people. They also take note that the research duration may not have been long sufficient to see genuine outcomes.


Read the original article on PHYS.

Share this post