Men and women respond differently to aspirin therapy

Taking a baby aspirin may prevent heart attacks in men, but it does little to ward off a first heart attack in women ageS 45 to 64, researchers reported yesterday. The low-dose aspirin therapy widely recommended for both men and women, however, may reduce the risk of stroke caused by a blocked blood vessel in the brain, according to the findings. Until now, doctors have widely recommended low-dose aspirin therapy for both genders, even though that advice was based on studies that mostly included men. But when researchers tested aspirin on nearly 40,000 women as part of the Women's Health Study, they found the women who received a placebo were no more likely to have a first heart attack than those who regularly took aspirin for 10 years. The women who took aspirin were also 40 percent more likely to develop serious stomach or intestinal bleeding that required a transfusion, according to the study that will be published this month in The New England Journal of Medicine. The team, led by Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women's Hospital, said the findings ''clearly demonstrate the importance of studying women as well as men in major cardiovascular clinical trials."

REUTERS