Daily Aspirin — Healthy or Harmful? Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola STORY AT-A-GLANCE Prophylactic aspirin use in adults over the age of 70 is potentially harmful, primarily due to the increased risk of bleeding in this age group. Long-term low-dose aspirin therapy nearly doubles your risk for gastrointestinal bleeding In adults younger than 40, there is insufficient evidence to judge the risk-benefit ratio of routine aspirin for the primary prevention of heart disease While daily aspirin is still recommended for people with heart disease to lower the risk of another heart attack or stroke, previous studies have cast doubt on the effectiveness of this approach as well You may be able to achieve the same kind of cardiovascular protection by donating blood. The bleeding caused by aspirin may be part of why it lowers your risk of heart attack and stroke, as bleeding will lower your iron level. People taking seven aspirins per week have been shown to have 25% lower mean ser...