The recently released USPSTF draft guidelines

The recently released USPSTF draft guidelines may cause confusion regarding the role of aspirin. Aspirin continues to be the gold standard treatment for millions of Americans who have had a cardiovascular event.

• The draft guidelines only focus on patients who take aspirin for primary prevention, which is the use of aspirin to prevent a first cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or ischemic stroke.
• Importantly, the guidelines do not include patients who take a doctor-directed aspirin regimen for secondary prevention of a recurrent heart attack or ischemic stroke. The new draft guidelines have not changed the importance of aspirin for these patients. Aspirin continues to be a life-saving preventative treatment for many patients who have already had a cardiovascular event.

• For those who have already experienced a heart attack, study data have shown that discontinuing an aspirin regimen could increase the risk of another heart attack by 63 percent.