A new study unveiled today at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2005 in New Orleans indicates that stroke survivors who stop taking aspirin triple their chances of having another stroke within one month's time.

The study tracked the progress of 618 stroke patients admitted to Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland between 2002 and April 2004.

Dr. Patrik Michel, the leader of the study, found a significant difference in the people who continued aspirin therapy and those who had stopped prior to their strokes. 'Therefore, risk of stroke is three times higher if aspirin is stopped,' the study concluded.

The reasons that patients stopped taking aspirin varied. Roughly two-thirds of them were told to stop by doctors mostly because they had some form of minor surgery scheduled in the near future. The majority of the remaining 33 percent stopped taking aspirin on their own. According to Dr. Michel, the risk of a second stroke was at its highest 8-10 days after the patient discontinued taking aspirin.