Older patients should take PPIs to cut risk of bleed from aspirin, study says

Elderly people who take long term daily aspirin have a higher than expected risk of disabling or fatal upper gastrointestinal bleeding, a major UK study has found.1 The researchers recommend prescribing proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to prevent bleeds in older patients undergoing aspirin based antiplatelet treatment.

An estimated 40-66% of people aged over 75 in Europe and the US currently take daily aspirin or other antiplatelet drugs, often for secondary prevention of vascular disease. But guidelines recommending this treatment are based on trials carried out in younger people.

Peter Rothwell, from the Centre for Prevention of Stroke and Dementia …