Think twice before starting to take daily aspirin

Here's a medical update. If you're one of the millions of US adults taking aspirin daily as a preventative measure, two new studies have bubble-bursting news: Doing so may not do any good—and could actually cause harm. Researchers in both studies found that even low-dose aspirin carries a risk of internal gastric bleeding, and the newer study also found that older patients who were not at high risk of cardiovascular disease saw no health benefits from taking aspirin daily. "We knew there would an increased risk of bleeding," a study co-author tells NBC News (aspirin is a blood thinner). "But not only did it not decrease risk of disability or death, it did not decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke, and there was an increase in the rate of death."