Could ultra-low-dose aspirin reduce side effects and prevent heart attacks?

The impact of aspirin dose modification on the innate immune response (Dr William Parker)

Sheffield researchers will test whether twice-daily low-dose aspirin could be safer than a once-daily standard dose for heart attack prevention. A heart attack occurs when a blood clot blocks a coronary artery feeding the heart. People who’ve already had a heart attack are at higher risk of having another, and are often prescribed anticlotting medicines to lower their risk. This is called secondary prevention, and, currently, the best combination of medicines is once-a-day aspirin and a drug called ticagrelor. However, high doses of aspirin can have side effects including increasing the risk of internal bleeding and inflammation, which could accelerate heart disease in these patients. Professor Storey believes that a twice-daily ultra-low-dose aspirin, instead of a once-daily standard dose might be better for patients. His team will recruit 40 healthy volunteers to study whether splitting the aspirin dose will lower the body’s natural response to an inflammatory trigger, and whether this is altered if people also take ticagrelor. Evidence from this small study could pave the way for larger trials of twice-daily ultra-low-dose aspirin for secondary prevention. It may eventually lead to a change in the gold standard for prescribing to prevent repeat heart attacks and strokes in people at high risk.