They also promote blood clotting. Vitamin E, an antioxidant compound, helps neutralize free radicals, which are substances in the blood that contribute to plaque formation. Aspirin, a blood thinner, reduces the tendency of blood to clot.
Doctors commonly prescribe daily aspirin after a heart attack or stroke.
But there has been conflicting evidence about the benefit of taking aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke. A concern about long-term aspirin therapy is the potential for bleeding in the digestive tract. A team of Italian researchers, led by Maria Carla Roncaglioni of the Institute of Pharmacological Research in Milan, Italy, studied whether aspirin and vitamin E can prevent people with one or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease from having a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular problem. The average age of the participants was 64.4 years. The participants were followed an average of 3.6 years before the study was stopped because of evidence from two other studies showing the benefit of aspirin.