A recent study conducted in U.K. warns healthy people that taking an aspirin a day to prevent strokes or heart attacks does more harm than good because it almost doubles the risk of internal bleeding while having no effect on heart attacks or strokes.

‘We know that a small daily dose of aspirin can reduce the risk of a heart attack in people with angina and in those who’ve had a heart attack.” said Professor Peter Weissberg from the British Heart Foundation.

The study involved 3550 middle aged men and women with evidence of artery diseases in their legs, without symptoms of heart diseases and who had not suffered a heart attack.  Over an eight year period they were given either a dummy pill every day or a low dose of aspirin and the results shown that aspirin could not prevent any heart attacks or strokes anymore than the placebo pill.

In that period the volunteers suffered 357 cardiovascular events including strokes and heart attacks. 34 people on aspirin required hospital treatment because of a major hemorrhage and 14 developed a stomach ulcer, compared to 20, respectively 8 taking the dummy pill.

‘Our research suggests aspirin should not be prescribed to the general population,’ said study leader Professor Gerry Fowkes.