Taking Aspirin at Night may Lower Heart Attack Risk

A recent study by the American Heart Association suggest that taking a daily dose of aspirin before bed time could help heart related diseases.

"Heart attacks are more likely to occur in the morning, so anything that would reduce platelet activity during the morning hours could be beneficial," said cardiologist Sidney Smith Jr., a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine according to USA Today.

Aspirin works to prevent platelets from forming clots that could potentially cause fatal heart attacks and/or strokes.

Researchers looked at information from 290 patients with heart disease that were studied when taking a low dose of aspirin. As these individuals had already been taking a low-dose of the medication, for a three-month period, they were served 100 milligrams of aspirin either in the morning or at night.

Though researchers did not notice a reduction in blood pressure from aspirin intake, they did determine that blood platelet activity was lowered remarkably.

"Platelet activity is highest in the morning, and that is also the time that most heart attacks and strokes occur, so if you reduce platelet activity during the morning hours, you might reduce heart attacks and stroke at that time," said study author Tobias Bonten of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands according to the news organization. 

As many regularly take aspirin, these new found benefits are quite surprising and helpful.