The association of low-dose aspirin with major bleeding risk is well known. However, its effect on anemia incidences and iron deficiency is not well explored. Recently, a study examined whether low-dose aspirin (100 mg) administration is associated with anemia in 19,114 healthy individuals aged ≥70 years. In the 4.5-year-long study, anemia incidence was higher in the aspirin group than in the placebo group (51.2 vs. 42.9 events/1000 person-years; hazard ratio [HR], 1.20).
The hemoglobin concentrations declined faster in the aspirin group than in the placebo group over five years. In addition, the aspirin group also showed a greater decline in ferritin level by 11.5% than placebo at year 3. The findings revealed that daily low-dose aspirin is likely to cause anemia in older adults, independent of major bleeding. Clinicians must keep a vigil on the potential development of anemia in the…
