Does Aspirin Prophlaxis Only Help Men?

Aspirin, the standard medication worldwide for heart attack prevention may have a gender bias, affecting men more than women.

Researchers from the iCAPTURE Center for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research (Vancouver, Canada) examined the results of 23 previously published clinical trials for the effect for aspirin in preventing myocardial infarction (MI), involving more than 113,000 patients. The authors then analyzed how much the ratio of men to women in these trials affected the trials' outcomes.

Study results showed that overall, compared with placebo; aspirin reduced the risk of non-fatal MI, but not of fatal MI. A total of 27% of the variation in the non-fatal MI results could be accounted for by considering the gender mix of the trials. Trials that recruited predominantly men demonstrated the largest risk reduction in non-fatal MI, while trials that contained predominately women failed to demonstrate a significant risk reduction in non-fatal MI. The study was published on October 18, 2007, in the online open access journal BMC Medicine.

"From our findings we would caution clinicians on the prescribing aspirin to women, especially for primary prevention of heart attacks,” said study author Dr. Don Sin. "Whether or not other pharmaceutical products would be more effective for women is unclear; more sex-specific studies should now be conducted.”

The mechanisms of this resistance are not yet understood, although recent studies have shown that men and women have major differences in the structure and physiology of the heart's blood vessels.


Related Links:
iCAPTURE Centre for Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Research