Daily Low-Dose Aspirin: Who Should Take It and What Are Its Effects?

Q. A friend who knows I take low-dose aspirin for my heart e-mailed me an article from a natural-health site saying daily aspirin is dangerous and could cause brain bleeding or make me go blind. It seemed extreme but what do you think?
-- Len, Cleveland, OH

A. We YOU Docs have said it before and we'll for sure say it again: Weighing the ins and outs of taking low-dose aspirin is a lot like trying to solve your first Rubik's Cube. There's no question that daily baby aspirin reduces your risk for heart attacks, strokes, and deep-vein thrombosis. That's why aspirin's strongly recommended for men over 45 and women over 55. (We'd go younger. We think typical guys over 35 and gals over 40 should talk to their docs about taking aspirin.)

Last year, two massive studies found that plain, low-dose aspirin slashed your risk of dying from nine scary cancers -- including colon, prostate, brain, lungs, and pancreas -- by an average of 30%. (Aspirin's particularly good at protecting you from colon cancer. Here's why.)

While we're big believers in daily aspirin for the right people and think it's widely underused, it's not right for everyone. Regular use can trigger major stomach and brain bleeding. Deciding whether to take it requires sorting out your personal risks and benefits. If you didn't talk with your doctor before starting daily aspirin, do it now.

We're not giving you advice we don't follow ourselves, by the way. We swallow our 162 mg of aspirin daily and wash 'em down with warm water, which dissolves the tablets faster and makes aspirin less likely to trigger serious bleeding. Please do the same.

If you're allergic to aspirin (10% of people are), try these other ways to get inflammation-reducing benefits.