An aspirin a day 'does more harm than good'.

HEALTHY people taking aspirin to prevent heart attacks could be doing themselves more harm than good, experts have concluded.

Millions of Britons are believed to be taking a daily dose of the drug as insurance against heart trouble.

But its routine use for the prevention of vascular problems "cannot be supported", UK professors from the Aspirin for Asymptomatic Atherosclerosis (AAA) concluded. Professor Peter Weissberg, of the British Heart Foundation, which part-funded the research, said: "We know 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.

"The findings of this study agree with our current advice that people who don't have symptomatic or diagnosed artery or heart disease should not take aspirin, because the risks of bleeding may outweigh the benefits."

Reducing the risk of cardiovascular problems had to be set against the increased risk of internal bleeding, the study said. In patients who have already suffered one heart attack, the risk of a second is so much higher that the balance is in favour of taking aspirin, said Professor Gerry Fowkes, from the Wolfson Unit for Prevention of Peripheral Vascular Diseases.