Once again, aspirin is being indicated as an effective artery blocker for people who have had or are at a risk of having a stroke. According to new research, high doses of aspirin seem to have the same effect as the anticoagulant drug warafarin, commonly known as Coumadin. The study, which was led by Dr. Marc L. Chimowitx of Emory University, is being published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers looked at 569 people who had suffered a stroke and subsequently been diagnosed with blockage in the brain artery. Of this group, half were administered warafarin, and the other given 1,300 milligrams of aspirin each day. In follow-ups conducted almost two years later, the people who were taking aspirin had nearly the same numbers of subsequent strokes as those taking the warafarin. The study indicates that 21.8 percent of those taking warafarin and 22.1 of those taking aspirin suffered strokes.

This trial was discontinued when it became apparent that the people taking warafarin seemed to be having more heart attacks and dying than the group taking aspirin. There is currently no explanation for this occurrence.

This trial used a much higher dose of aspirin than is normally administered in otherwise healthy people who commonly take between 81 and 325 milligrams per day for the prevention of heart attack and strokes. Some critics expressed concern that such high doses of aspirin might cause other problems, such as hemorrhage and stomach bleeding. Others were concerned that these results may have been skewed because the study was stopped abruptly.

Dr. Walter Koroshetz of Massachusetts General Hospital noted that patients who take the proper doses of warafarin had five times fewer heart attacks than those who did not take the drug. Warafarin dosage is determined by frequent monitoring of blood clotting factors and for this trial, the patients who were taking the drug only had their blood checked once a month. He believes that if patients levels were checked more frequently, the dosages would have been more consistently in the therapeutic range, and the results would have been different.

But Dr. Chimowitz points out that this is one of the reasons that aspirin is so effective. The patients do not need to have their blood constantly monitored. He suggests that people could start out using warafarin, and then be placed on aspirin for the long term.

Additionally, aspirin is far more cost-effective, and would be much more affordable for patients who must use the drug for the rest of their lives.