Professor Peter Weis*****erg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation -- which partly funded the research -- said the findings support the group's current guidelines on the use of aspirin for heart-attack prevention.
"We know that patients with symptoms of artery disease, such as angina, heart attack or stroke, can reduce their risk of further problems by taking a small dose of aspirin each day," Weis*****erg said in a statement.
"The findings of this study agree with our current advice that people who do not have symptomatic or diagnosed artery or heart disease should not take aspirin, because the risks of bleeding may outweigh the benefits."