A study has revealed that healthy older people who take aspirin have an increased risk of falling, prompting calls to reduce its use.
Results of a randomised clinical trial, published this month in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Internal Medicine, found the risk of a serious fall was significantly greater statistically in those who took aspirin at low levels than the placebo group.
The study’s original aim was to determine if daily low-dose aspirin (100mg) reduced the risk of fractures or serious falls in healthy older men and women, but found low-dose aspirin provided little favourable benefit in a healthy older adult population.
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Rather than providing any benefits, the findings indicate the use of low-dose aspirin could create an additional risk in initially healthy older people.
Lead author of the study, Adjunct Associate Professor Anna Barker, says these trials were conducted on healthy individuals, and the results should not be taken as advice to those who take aspirin for medical purposes to stop doing so.
“Older adults with a medical reason to take aspirin should continue to do so. For healthy older people without heart disease or prior stroke, aspirin appears to provide little benefit and may do more harm than good by increasing a person’s risk of having a serious fall,” she says.
“Always seek medical advice before changing your aspirin regime.”
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However, given the study’s findings, healthy older people who take aspirin as a preventative measure should reconsider, Prof. Barker suggests. “Falls are frequent for many older people and can have several negative impacts including fractures, soft tissue injuries, loss of confidence and independence. They are a frequent reason an older person attends an emergency department and needs to receive care in hospital.”
How does taking aspirin increase the risk of a serious fall?
That’s an interesting question, and one the study has not been able to answer definitively. The study originally hypothesised that aspirin may decrease falls by slowing physical decline by reducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events and/or reducing cognitive decline by protecting against Alzheimer disease and/or vascular dementia.
But that appears to be untrue. Further studies show that daily low-dose aspirin did not reduce the risk of dementia, mild cognitive impairment, or cognitive decline.
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Prof. Barker’s study has suggested that one reason for its findings could be that “an increase in the tendency to fall may have resulted from other aspirin-induced morbidities such as anaemia”.
Interestingly, while the taking of daily low-dose aspirin appears to increase the risk of a serious fall (defined here as requiring a hospital visit), there was no increase in the likelihood of a fracture accompanying the fall.
So, if your daily medical regime includes a low dose of aspirin for no specific medical reason, it might be doing you very little good, and could well be increasing your risk of a fall.
But before making any changes to that regime, you should discuss the options with your health specialist.
Are you a healthy person who takes aspirin daily? Will you see a GP and review your dosage as a result of these findings? Why not share your experience and thoughts in the comments section below?
