Aspirin can also be used as a long term treatment for those with a history of heart attack and stroke, or who have peripheralarterial disease, stable angina or atrial fibrillation - an irregular heart rhythm.
Dr Baigent said surveys in the UK have shown that aspirin is prescribed to less than a quarter of people with diseases such as peripheralarterial disease - a condition which causes fatty deposits to build up in the arteries of the leg, and which commonly leads to heart attacks or strokes.