While the American Heart Association and other medical groups recommend aspirin therapy for people who have suffered a heart attack, the report revealed that only 26 percent actually received aspirin. A team from the Harvard Medical School examined data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys, which were conducted between 1980 and 1996, a period when the evidence for aspirin's benefit in reducing heart disease and stroke grew. Aspirin use rose from 5 percent in 1980 to 26 percent in 1996. Regular aspirin use by people with heart disease has been shown to reduce the risk of blood clots, which can trigger a heart attack. The AHA recommends that individuals who have experienced a heart attack or unstable angina take aspirin to reduce the risk of another heart attack or hospitalization because of recurrent angina.
Unstable angina is a type of severe chest pain that can be a warning sign of heart attack.
Although aspirin may be beneficial in preventing heart disease, there is strong evidence of its benefit to patients who already have heart disease. However, such complications are quite uncommon at the dose of aspirin needed to reduce heart risk. Also, patients might take aspirin without mentioning it to their physicians. Although death rates from all forms of heart disease have gone down significantly over the past 40 years, there is still evidence that several important risk factors for coronary artery disease are being under-treated. Coronary artery disease is the most important predecessor of cardiac death.