In a report by reuters.com, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, or USPSTF said that people on this age bracket taking low- doses of aspirin daily can help prevent the increase in chances of heart attacks and strokes as well as colon cancer.

The treatment should be offered to people who have at least a 10 per cent risk of a heart attack or stroke over the next decade; have a life expectancy of at least 10 years; and be willing to take daily aspirin that long, the guidelines said.

The new guidelines are recommended for individuals with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke, not for those who have had a heart attack or stroke and are trying to prevent a second episode. The underlying algorithm that the USPTF used to create the guidelines is based on the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology calculator.

Internal bleeding is quite common with daily aspirin use.

The guidelines said the recommendation is strongest for people in their 50s, but that doctors should decide aspirin therapy on a case-by-case basis for people in their 60s, who can expect a smaller benefit.

As of now there is not enough evidence of aspirin taken by people under 50s or above 60s. “In a group with elevated cardiovascular risk, aspirin may prevent as many as 25 to 30 heart attacks per 1,000 people over 10 years”, explained Michael Hochman, an internist who recently authored a book on evidence-based medicine.

Nissen worries that many people are mistaking their actual heart disease risk. He added that there were millions of Americans who are on aspirin, but who should not be. Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States. Long-term use of aspirin can, however, trigger potentially fatal bleeding in the stomach or the brain and the nation’s health experts are fiercely debating the wisdom of the task force’s advice.

You should stop taking aspirin if you’re taking it without a doctor’s guidance to prevent cardiovascular problems and have no history of heart disease or heart attack.

“While I am excited to offer this as an option to my patients, I will continue to emphasize and insist they adhere to other colorectal cancer prevention strategies such as maintaining a healthy diet-eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in red meat-exercising, not smoking, and to recommended colorectal screening protocols”.

And will aspirin assist scale back the danger of different cancers?