Research

Mixed

Aspirin should be used infrequently in the routine primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) because of lack of net benefit.

Do not start taking daily aspirin for heart disease prevention without discussing it with your doctor. For most people in primary prevention, the risk of bleeding outweighs the benefits. Focus on lifestyle changes like diet and exercise instead.

GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
Aspirin should be used infrequently in the routine primary prevention of ASCVD because of lack of net benefit.
Donna K. Arnett et al. · Circulation · 2019

Why this rating

Based on systematic reviews and RCTs cited in the guideline (though specific LOE not explicitly listed in the summary text for this specific point, it is a major shift from prior guidelines).

Source

2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: Executive Summary: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines

Donna K. Arnett et al. · Circulation · 2019

DOI 10.1161/cir.0000000000000677

clinical_guidelineCited 4,518×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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