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Daily Aspirin: Not for Healthy Elderly

Aspirin won鈥檛 protect healthy older people from heart attacks or stroke; Lessons learned from past childhood separation policy in Canada; Hookah pipe smoking stiffens arteries

Some older people take a daily low-dose aspirin on the advice of their doctor, if they鈥檝e had a heart attack or stroke, to reduce their risk of having another one. And some otherwise healthy older people copy them. But a new study this week shows that the drug increases the risk of internal bleeding 鈥 commonly in the brain or stomach. Anyone worried about taking aspirin should talk to their doctor before stopping taking it.

The 鈥渮ero tolerance鈥 policy in the United States saw some 2,300 migrant children separated from their parents on the American border. Around five hundred still haven鈥檛 been reunited with their families. We hear from Canadian doctors, recalling their country鈥檚 practice for 100 years - of removing indigenous children from their families. So what lessons has Canada learned about the impact of separation on children鈥檚 health and well-being?

Although they originated in the Middle East, hookah pipes or shisha are increasing in popularity in places such as the US. Many believe it鈥檚 less harmful than smoking than cigarettes, but new research on 18-34 year old hookah smokers has found that even a single session can cause stiffening of the walls of the arteries.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)

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Mon 24 Sep 2018 01:32GMT

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