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Healthy older people who take regular aspirin to prevent stroke may actually be increasing their risk.

In the past 25 years the number of strokes associated with blood-thinning drugs such as aspirin or warfarin has risen seven-fold, a UK study found.

The risk is particularly high in the over 75s and aspirin may do more harm than good in healthy older people, The Lancet Neurology paper reported.

However, people advised to take daily aspirin by their GP should not stop.

Researchers at the University of Oxford compared figures on intracerebral haemorrhagic stroke - a type of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain - from 1981-85 and 2002-06.

They found that the number of strokes caused by high blood pressure had fallen by 65%, which in the under 75s meant the overall rate of strokes had halved.


"What our study suggests is that, particularly in the very elderly, the risks of aspirin outweigh the benefits
Professor Peter Rothwell

But in the over 75s the stroke rate remained the same over the 25-year period.

A closer look at the data showed there had been an increase in the number of strokes in patients taking blood thinning drugs, known as antithrombotics.

In the first study the proportion of stroke patients on antithrombotic drugs was 4% but two decades later this had risen to 40%.

Lifestyle choice

People with cardiovascular disease, who have a high risk of blood clot, are prescribed drugs like aspirin to thin the blood and reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

But many healthy older people also take a regular aspirin in an attempt to ward off a stroke.

Study leader, Professor Peter Rothwell, said the increasing use of drugs such as aspirin may soon take over high blood pressure as the leading cause of intracerebral haemorrhagic stroke in the over 75s.

He warned than in healthy older adults the risks of taking aspirin may outweigh any benefits.

"GPs have been treating high blood pressure very aggressively and that is bringing dividends but there are other causes of stroke in the elderly which have become important.

"There are good reasons for taking aspirin or warfarin but there are elderly who take aspirin as a lifestyle choice and in that situation the trials have shown there's no benefit.

"And what our study suggests is that, particularly in the very elderly, the risks of aspirin outweigh the benefits," he said.

Dr Peter Coleman, deputy director of research and development for The Stroke Association said aspirin had gained a reputation of being part of a healthy lifestyle.

"However, this evidence indicates that if you are healthy and have a low risk of heart disease or stroke and unless advised by your GP to take aspirin on a daily basis then the increased risks from the side effects of aspirin are likely to outweigh the benefits of preventing a stroke."

He advised people to lower their risk of stroke by having regular blood pressure checks, eating a healthy diet, stopping smoking, only drinking alcohol in moderation, reducing salt intake and taking regular exercise.
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From BBC News

Survivors and relatives of victims of the 7 July attacks are stepping up the pressure for a public inquiry into MI5's handling of intelligence.

On Monday it emerged at the end of a year-long terror trial that MI5 had two of the 7 July plotters under surveillance a year before the attacks.

But Home Secretary John Reid ruled out an inquiry into MI5's failures.

A letter to Mr Reid calling for an inquiry will be delivered later by members of the 7/7 Inquiry Group.

It calls for an "impartial public inquiry" to produce a "publicly available report containing appropriate recommendations".

The letter states that one of the purposes of an inquiry would be "to examine issues aimed at saving lives, minimising suffering and improving the response of government agencies to the continuing threat of terrorist attacks in the UK and abroad".


Location of meetings between fertiliser bomb plotters and 7 July bombers

When and where plotters met 7 July bombers

On Monday five men were given life sentences for a foiled plot to build a huge fertiliser bomb for a UK attack.

It emerged during the trial that MI5 had tailed London suicide bombers Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer while investigating that case, but took no action.

Danny Biddle, who survived the 7 July attacks, said the revelation that there were links between the suicide bombers and those behind the fertiliser plot meant a public inquiry was now essential.

"This is about finding out how this could be allowed to happen and how nobody could stop it. That needs to be investigated and to totally dismiss a public inquiry is shameful."

He said the home secretary and the government "should be ashamed" adding: "What more do you need to have a public inquiry?"


EVIDENCE SINCE TRIAL
Khan followed Feb 2004
Photographed with extremists
Recorded talking with plot ringleader
Home address seen
Car ownership and surname known June 04

But Paul Dadge, who also survived the London bombings, said it was easy to be critical with hindsight.

He said he believed the attacks may have been prevented if the leads had been followed but argued that it was important to praise the security services for successfully securing convictions.

Mr Reid has rejected the need for an inquiry and said it would divert too many MI5 officers from the job of foiling other terrorist plots.

But he has asked the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) to consider why the 7 July bombers were not picked up.

The committee, which comprises MPs and Lords, is expected to examine claims that West Yorkshire Police special branch was not told about the MI5 surveillance operation.

ISC chairman Paul Murphy MP has indicated that police were informed.

'Divert energy'

Tony Blair has also rejected calls for a public inquiry, although he said he "totally" understood why some people sought one.

Omar Khyam, Salahuddin Amin, Waheed Mahmood, Anthony Garcia and Jawad Akbar (clockwise)
The row has taken the shine off the conviction of the five men

He told GMTV: "The problem if you have an independent public inquiry into something like this is you will divert all their energy and attention into trying to answer the questions that come up in the inquiry."

Former home secretary David Blunkett said there was no need for a public inquiry "because it is lengthy, expensive and it presumes that we don't have the facts, and we do".

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It would be a great boon for the terrorists, and those associated with them, to see us to trawl the exact detail of everything that went on."

These comments follow suggestions that the 7 July attacks could have been avoided.

'Clean skins'

"We shouldn't lose sight of the five who were locked up," he said, adding that it is "a shame" that the success of security services had been overlooked."

One critical issue is what MI5 told both the public and politicians in the wake of the 7 July attacks.

The media were briefed that Khan and fellow bombers were "clean skins" - men with no previous record of terrorist associations. Evidence following the end of the trial reveals MI5 photographed Khan as he met other extremists, followed him home - and by the summer of 2004 they knew his surname and that he owned a car.


WHAT MI5 TOLD COMMITTEE
We have been told in evidence that none of the ... 7 July group had been identified (that is named and listed) as potential terrorist threats prior to July
ISC report into MI5, 2006

The revelation that one of the 7 July bombers met up with one of the fertiliser bomb plotters - Omar Khyam - at a terrorist training camp in Pakistan has caused concern.

However, the head of Pakistan's National Crisis Management Centre, Brigadier Javed Iqbal Cheema, said anyone "who spends a lot of money and travels to Pakistan...[is] already motivated for a particular reason".

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell responded to details that emerged in bomb plot trial by saying it would "spark widespread public concern and debate about the operational capabilities of the security service, and the reliability of government information in the aftermath of the 7 July bombings".

And Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "Whether deliberately or not, the government have not told the British public the whole truth about the circumstances and mistakes leading up to the July 7 attacks."
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From BBC News