Joycepoite By now, it’s not a surprise that doctors advise anyone who has had a heart attack or stroke to take a low-dose aspirin every day. But remembering to take a pill daily can be a challenge.
In a new study published Monday in the journal Circulation, researchers show just how risky stopping aspirin therapy can be. They followed more than 601,000 people who took low-dose aspirin (80mg) daily to prevent heart disease and stroke. Three years after the study began, people who stopped taking aspirin for whatever reason had a 37% higher rate of heart problems including heart attack and stroke, compared to those who continued regularly taking the drug.
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While it’s not surprising that discontinuing aspirin for heart patients increases their risk of heart problems, experts say many people dutifully take aspirin every day the first few months after a heart event, but about half eventually stop taking the medication. The study results underscore how dangerous stopping aspirin therapy can be.
“A lot of time patients don’t make the connection between aspirin and lower risk of heart attack and stroke,” says Dr. Nieca Goldberg, medical director for the New York University Center for Women’s Health and a spokesperson for the American Heart Association. “Because it is over-the-counter and you don’t need a prescription, people sometimes forget when it runs out to buy it again.”
The results of the study show that aspirin is an important part of preventive heart treatment. Doctors believe aspirin can lower the risk of blood clots by preventing platelets from clumping together. It also works to reduce inflammation, another process that in recent years has been linked to a number of chronic diseases, including heart problems since inflammation can increase the formation of unstable plaques within blood vessel walls.
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Donnasoilm Financing retirement has become more challenging than ever. But the good news is that we have more sources of income than we might at first realize. Here are ten ways that people generate income after they retire. Most people only need three or four to be financially comfortable.
1. Social Security. The average retiree collects about $1,360 a month from Social Security. But many people spend more than that on housing, health care, transportation and food. While Social Security may be part of the equation for financing retirement, it does not provide the whole answer. Your benefit may differ significantly from the average, based on your earnings history and the age you retire. You can retire and collect Social Security anytime between 62 and 70. The longer you wait, the higher your monthly check.
2. Retirement accounts. Take stock of how much savings you have stashed away in an IRA or 401(k) retirement plan. Whatever the amount, you can safely withdraw somewhere between 3 and 4 percent per year to support your retirement lifestyle. Typically, you can start withdrawals, without penalty, at age 59 1/2, and for many plans you must start withdrawals by age 70 1/2 or face penalties. Remember, you may have to pay income taxes on money taken from a retirement plan.
3. Other savings. In aggregate, the bulk of individual savings is invested in IRAs and other retirement plans. But you may also have savings outside of a retirement program. Many experts suggest spending down taxable accounts first, and holding off on IRA withdrawals, since retirement accounts continue to grow on a tax-deferred basis.
4. Pensions. Many of us have seen pension plans fall by the wayside. But some retirees from the private sector and most people from the public sector still collect pension payments. If you held a number of jobs in your career, you should check with old employers about any pension rights you may have. It's also a good idea to research how secure your pension is. Most pensions are well protected, but not all pen