Medicine: Capsules: Aug. 29, 1983

ATTACKING HEART ATTACKS

A single aspirin a day can help keep heart attacks away for hundreds of thousands of Americans, according to a striking new report from the Veterans Administration. The study involved 1,266 male patients suffering from unstable angina, an extremely painful condition that is often a harbinger of heart attacks. About half the men (625) took one dose of aspirin daily in the form of an Alka-Seltzer solution (used because it is less upsetting to the stomach than plain aspirin). The other patients were given a fizzy placebo.

At the end of twelve weeks, the rate of both heart attack and...

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