Aspirin is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). In Aotearoa New Zealand, low strengths or 'doses' of aspirin are available as 75 mg or 100 mg. It’s taken long-term to prevent your blood from forming clots by making it less sticky.
Preventing clots in blood vessels that lead to your brain and heart muscle helps lower your risk of having a stroke and heart attack.
- Aspirin is especially effective if you've had a heart attack, angina (chest pain), stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA or mini-strokes).
- You may be prescribed aspirin if you have unstable angina or if you haven’t had a heart attack or stroke but are at high risk of having one – this is checked at a cardiovascular or heart risk assessment. You’ll also be advised to make lifestyle changes to reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
Aspirin may not be suitable if you don’t have heart disease and you're not considered to be at high risk of developing it. The risk of side effects (particularly the risk of bleeding) outweighs the benefit of preventing blood clots.
In Aotearoa New Zealand low-dose aspirin is also called Aspec®, Cartia®, Aspirin-AFT, Aspirin (Ethics®, Pharmacy Health®, Medco®) or Medreich Aspirin® . These are available to buy over the counter or on a prescription from your doctor.
The information on this page is about low-dose aspirin. For short-term pain relief, higher doses of aspirin are used. Read more about using non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) for pain relief.
Video: How does aspirin work?
The following animation describes how aspirin works in the body.
(British Heart Foundation, UK, 2018)
