title: The role of aspirin in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
abstract: Aspirin therapy is well-accepted as an agent for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular events and current guidelines also define a role for aspirin in primary prevention. In this review, we describe the seminal trials of aspirin use in the context of current guidelines, discuss factors that may influence the effectiveness of aspirin therapy for cardiovascular disease prevention, and briefly examine patterns of use. The body of evidence supports a role for aspirin in both secondary and primary prevention of cardiovascular events in selected population groups, but practice patterns may be suboptimal. As a simple and inexpensive prophylactic measure for cardiovascular disease, aspirin use should be carefully considered in all at-risk adult patients, and further measures, including patient education, are necessary to ensure its proper use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Marshfield Clinic, Marshfield, WI USA.
authors.forename: Sunitha V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Ittaman
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Research Center, Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, Marshfield, WI USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: VanWormer
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Marshfield Clinic, Marshfield, WI USA rezkalla.shereif@marshfieldclinic.org.
authors.forename: Shereif H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Rezkalla
mesh_terms: D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011322:Primary Prevention; D055502:Secondary Prevention
chemical_list: D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; D001241:Aspirin
keywords: Aspirin/history/therapeutic use; Cardiovascular diseases/drug therapy; Coronary artery disease; Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents