Spring 2004 Ask the Expert : Heart and Aspirin  I´ve been
reading that an aspirin a day can help prevent a heart attack.
I´ve never had a heart attack, and I don´t want to have one!
Should I be taking an aspirin a day, and if so, what´s the
correct dose?  Gilead Lancaster, MD, medical director of Non-
Invasive Cardiology in the Heart Institute at Bridgeport
Hospital, responds:  Aspirin keeps the platelets (cells in your
blood stream) from clumping together. This, plus aspirin´s anti-
inflammatory effect, helps to keep blood clots from forming and
blocking the heart arteries. Gilead Lancaster, MD  By now it has
been well established that taking a daily dose of aspirin can
reduce the chances of a sec-ond heart attack or stroke in people
who have already had their first-and that aspirin can help
prevent first heart attacks and strokes in those who are at
risk.  But that doesn´t mean that daily aspirin is right for
everyone. If you´re young, healthy, have no risk fac-tors and no
family history of heart disease, the