LIVE LONGER: TAKE AN ASPIRIN EACH DAY

Recent studies have also shown that patients who have suffered a mini-stroke can slash their risk of a potentially life-threatening stroke by 80 per cent through taking aspirin.

GPs currently prescribe the tablet to patients who have had a heart attack or a stroke, or are seen as having a high risk of a cardiac emergency.

But the latest research, published in the journal Heart, looked at how much more widely aspirin could be used to protect public health.

University research teams from Sheffield and Nottingham looked at 12,000 patients aged between 30 and 75 years from 304 GP practices. The volunteers were healthy and were not taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. They were also free from diabetes and heart disease.

Experts wanted to know at what age patients would see their risk of developing furring of the arteries rise to significant levels.

Heart disease is already the country’s single biggest killer and more than 2.6million people are living with the condition.

The new research suggests that patients with a one in 10 chance of suffering cardiovascular disease in 10 years should be given aspirin.

An average male patient will reach this at 47.8 years and a woman patient at 57.3 years. The risk was seen to rise to 15 per cent for men aged 55.8 and when women reach 68.1 years.

However, the researchers do not make clear the exact dose of aspirin that patients would be given. And they admit their findings are not relevant to younger patients or the over-75s. These two groups should only be given aspirin after medical checks.

Last night heart charities welcomed the study but said they were not yet certain that offering aspirin to all patients over a certain age was the right way to go.

Dr Mike Knapton, director of prevention and care at the British Heart Foundation, said yesterday: “Further robust research is needed before aspirin should be considered as a blanket primary prevention measure in the UK.”

Three years ago research in the British Medical Journal said the over-50s could benefit from taking a small 75mg daily dose of aspirin.

The only major risks are to people who bleed easily or have stomach ulcers, as aspirin can cause complications. These patients are advised not to take the drug.