Ulcer Risk From Aspirin Use May Outweigh Cardiac Benefits - CME Teaching Brief® - MedPage Today

Ulcer Risk From Aspirin Use May Outweigh Cardiac Benefits - CME Teaching Brief® - MedPage Today: "BOSTON, Sept.20 -- Low-dose aspirin for cardioprotection may cause one extra case per year of gastrointestinal ulcers in every 50 aspirin users, but only in certain high-risk groups, researchers reported.
The study, reported in the Sept. 20 issue of BMC Medicine, is intended as a physician alert, because as the researchers noted, it was not possible to weigh gastrointestinal complications, such as bleeding or perforated ulcers, against actual cardiovascular risks.
For men older than 70 with a history of peptic ulcer, the excess risk was estimated at 20 extra cases per 1,000 aspirin users per year, said Sonia Hernández-Diaz, M.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health here and Luis A.G. Rodriguez of Centro Español de Investigación Farmacoepidemiológica in Madrid. "