The US Preventive Services Task Force is strengthening advice on aspirin therapy for middle-aged men and women.

The recommendation, published in the annals of Internal Medicine, says that men ages 45-79 should use aspirin to reduce their risk for heart attacks when the benefits outweigh the harms for potential gastrointestinal bleeding. Women ages 55-79 should use aspirin to reduce their risk for ischemic stroke when the benefits outweigh the harms for potential gastrointestinal bleeding.

“Subsequent to the 2002 recommendations, there was more information that came out of the Women's Health Initiative, specifically, that enabled us to look at this recommendation by gender. We have a recommendation for men and a recommendation for women. We did not have that before,” said Dr. Michael LeFevre, a task force member and professor of family and community medicine at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Men under the age of 45 and women under 55 who have never had a heart attack or stroke should not take aspirin for prevention. At this time, it isn’t clear whether patients aged 80 and older should take aspirin. The task force emphasized that the recommendations only apply to people who have never had a heart attack or stroke.

According to government data, only 16 percent of adults with multiple risk factors for heart disease are taking aspirin therapy. Many experts believe that a baby aspirin is ideal because it is effective against heart disease while carrying a lower risk for internal bleeding.