I'm Joe Gradyton and I'm Terry Grady welcome to this podcast of the People's Pharmacy.

You can find previous podcasts and more information on a range of health topics at people's Pharmacy.com.

If you have to make a decision about your health,

how do you weigh the benefits and the risks?

It's harder than you think.

This is the People's Pharmacy with Terry and Joe Grady. The COVID pandemic has led to a lot of controversy about medical matters.

As a result, many of us have trouble trying to figure out where to get information we can trust.

If we don't feel that we're well informed about a treatment, we may hesitate to try it.

To practice shared decision-making well. You'll have to understand the difference

between relative and absolute risk. Coming up on the People's Pharmacy, learn what you can do to make better choices about your help. In the People's Pharmacy Health Headlines, the United States Preventive Services Task Force

has just issued draft recommendations for the use of aspirin to prevent heart

attack strokes and colorectal cancer. Previous recommendations from the Task Force suggested that

people at fairly high risk for cardiovascular

disease between ages 50 and 59 might benefit. The updated recommendations

extend the age range of those who should discuss this option with their health care providers.

People between 40 and 59 whose 10-year cardiovascular disease risk is at least 10% are encouraged to consider aspirin on an individual

basis. The panel warns that older people may be at increased risk for bleeding and should not start low dose

aspirin as a preventive. The task force is trying to target primary prevention to

people most likely to benefit and least likely to experience harm.

People taking aspirin following a heart attack

or on their doctor's recommendation

are not advised to stop without consulting the physician.

...