Ozempic-Wegovy pill may be on the way: Trial shows promising results for new weight loss tablet

Ozempic and Wegovy — both injectable forms of semaglutide — have become synonymous with weight loss in recent months and years. Now a new drug is on the horizon that would offer the same medication in an oral (pill) format.

Created by Novo Nordisk, the same company that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, the new drug just completed its Phase 3 clinical trials. The results were announced on Sunday at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Session in Los Angeles, California.

The oral medication, which is indicated for type 2 diabetes or weight loss for patients with obesity, would provide an alternative to people who are not open to getting injections.

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"The opportunity to have a tablet that can offer the effectiveness of weight loss for people with diabetes is really exciting," Dr. Robert Gabbay, Boston-based chief scientific and medical officer for the ADA, told Fox News Digital during a phone interview from the scientific session. 

"It opens up this type of therapy to many more people that could potentially benefit."

Ozempic is marketed for people with type 2 diabetes, while Wegovy is indicated for weight loss. Both medications are semaglutides, just with different dosages. 

"Our focus has been primarily on people with diabetes, but it turns out that the vast majority of people with type 2 diabetes also have obesity," Gabbay explained. 

"So having a medication that can address a central issue for people with diabetes is really important — especially for those who are somewhat resistant to or concerned about doing an injection."

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The double-blind, randomized, Phase 3 trial followed 667 people who were randomly assigned to either 50 milligrams of the drug or a placebo, explained the lead study author, Dr. Filip Knop, professor at Gentofte Hospital at the University of Copenhagen.

The participants took the semaglutide once daily for a 68-week period and were monitored for both safety and effectiveness.

"It's important to emphasize that the participants were people who had obesity but did not have type 2 diabetes," Knop told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. 

"They could have [had] pre-diabetes, but they were not allowed to be enrolled in the trial if they had type 2 diabetes."

For the 86% of participants who remained on the drug throughout the trial, they achieved an average body weight loss of 17.4% compared to just 1.8% for those on the placebo, explained Knop, who has been involved in diabetes and metabolic research since 1999.

The average amount lost by the patients was 44 pounds.

In addition to helping with weight loss, the semaglutide medication can also help to reduce cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes, Gabbay noted.

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"For those people who are at high risk or [who] already have cardiovascular disease, the parent drug has been shown to reduce mortality, and there’s no reason to expect that this wouldn't be the case with the oral version," he told Fox News Digital.

Common side effects during the trial were gastrointestinal in nature — such as nausea, vomiting, constipation and diarrhea — similar to what has been reported for Ozempic and Wegovy.

Some less common side effects reported during the first 20 weeks of the trial were short-term changes in skin sensation, such as hypersensitivity or paraesthesia (tingling or prickling), Knop said.

Following the successful results of the Phase 3 trial, the drugmakers will look to start the process of applying for FDA approval.

"We're pleased to see that there are new options for people with diabetes and obesity," Gabbay said. 

"Having something that is orally available should increase the number of people who can benefit from these kinds of treatments."

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BMI measurement deemed racist in new medical report: This is politics not medicine'

The American Medical Association (AMA) is now discouraging the use of body mass index (BMI), calling it an "imperfect" and "problematic" means of assessing body fat and claiming it has been used for "racist exclusion."

The comments were included in a report presented at the 2023 AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois earlier this month.

"BMI cutoffs are based on the imagined ideal Caucasian and [do] not consider a person’s gender or ethnicity," the report stated.

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The AMA also claimed that the history of the BMI is rooted in "eugenics," which is "the scientifically inaccurate theory that humans can be improved through selective breeding of populations," per the National Human Genome Research Institute.

First created back in the mid-1800s by a Belgian mathematician named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, the BMI has been the international standard for measuring obesity since the 1980s, according to many sources, though some experts have questioned its validity. 

A person’s BMI is calculated by dividing his or her weight by the square of his or her height in feet.

For example, someone who is 5’5" and 135 pounds would have a BMI of 23.2.

On the BMI scale, any number lower than 18.5 is considered underweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A measurement between 18.5 and less than 25 falls within the healthy weight range.

Someone with a BMI between 25 and 30 is considered overweight.

Any measurement 30 or higher indicates obesity — while a number of over 40 qualifies as severe obesity, according to the BMI scale.

The National Alliance for Eating Disorders, based in Florida, has voiced its support of the AMA’s recommendation to de-emphasize the BMI.

It also called for it to be scrapped altogether "due to its racist and sexist standards and long history of harm, including harm toward those most marginalized in our communities."

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"We advocate for the recognition of weight diversity and hope that the medical field prioritizes health measurement tools that take into account the many factors that contribute to and impact a person's health status," said Dr. Katie Mittelstaedt, outreach and clinical consultant for group, in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Another eating disorder support organization, Project HEAL in Brooklyn, New York, echoes the claims that the BMI is rooted in racism.

"The BMI is based on research from the 1830s meant solely to study populations of white European men and does not have the medical relevance or authority it has been purported to have," said Serena Nangia, spokesperson for Project HEAL, in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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"BMI has for decades been held inaccurately as the gold standard for the measurement of health, but its origins, as well as its uses, are rooted in white supremacy."

Dr. Marc Siegel, professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor, spoke out against the AMA’s stance on "The Ingraham Angle" earlier this week.

"I didn’t believe the AMA was going to get involved in cancel culture, but now they’re canceling the body mass index, which is the thing I look at to at least start me off in the direction of obesity," he said.

The doctor said he uses the BMI as a basic guideline to determine whether a patient is in a category that requires closer monitoring. 

"It’s not racist — it’s called good medicine," he said.

Dr. Siegel said he believes the AMA’s new policy was fueled by the body positivity movement — but he cautioned that removing the BMI measurement is a step in the "wrong direction" and could "lead to bad health outcomes."

He said, "We don’t have enough prevention as it is, and we’re moving away from prevention."

The doctor warned that the AMA’s call to abolish the BMI could inhibit the ability to get insurance companies to pay for treating obesity.

While Siegel does agree with the AMA’s assertion that visceral fat — which is fat that’s found in the abdomen — is the most worrisome type, he said he still relies on the BMI as an overall indication of whether someone is at a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and high blood pressure.

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"I don’t need someone taking a tool out of my toolbox, and that’s what they’re doing here," he said. 

"This is politics, not medicine."

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Muscular dystrophy breakthrough: FDA approves first-ever gene therapy for rare childrens disease

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first gene therapy for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in children from age 4 through 5 years of age.

Pediatric patients who have a confirmed mutation in the DMD gene and do not have any preemptive medical conditions will have access to the drug, called Elevidys.

"Today’s approval addresses an urgent unmet medical need and is an important advancement in the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a devastating condition with limited treatment options, that leads to a progressive deterioration of an individual’s health over time," said Peter Marks, M.D., PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research in Silver Spring, Maryland, in a press release issued by the FDA. 

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"The FDA remains committed to facilitating the development of innovative new therapies to reduce the impact of debilitating diseases and to improve outcomes and quality of life for those affected," he added.

DMD is a rare muscle disorder that affects around one in every 3,500 male births globally, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). 

Females are rarely affected.

Over time, those with the disease will experience weakening and deterioration of the muscles in the pelvic region, followed by the same effect in the shoulders, torso, forearms and other areas.

As the disease progresses, most patients will require a wheelchair by the time they reach adolescence.

Symptoms usually become apparent between 3 and 6 years of age. 

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The symptoms may include trouble walking and running, fatigue and learning difficulties.

In advanced stages, potentially serious complications include heart disease and trouble breathing. 

People with this disorder have a mutation in the DMD gene on their X chromosome, which regulates the production of a protein called dystrophin that helps with muscle movement in the body and heart. 

The mutation prevents the creation of this protein, ultimately causing muscle weakness and mobility issues.

Current treatments for DMD aim to improve symptoms on an individual basis — but they do not address the genetic cause.

Cortisteroid medications, such as prednisone, are commonly prescribed to help slow the progression of muscle weakness, according to NORD.

Targeted stretching exercises and physical therapy can also help patients build muscle strength.

To aid in mobility, many children with the disease often rely on braces, canes and wheelchairs.

Elevidys, made by Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a gene therapy that triggers the production of Elevidys micro-dystrophin, a shortened protein that replaces the dystrophin that is lacking in muscular dystrophy patients, per the FDA’s announcement.

The gene therapy is given as a single-dose injection.

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The approval was granted through the FDA’s Accelerated Approval pathway, which fast-tracks access to a drug when there is an "unmet medical need" — and when the medication is likely to relieve patients’ symptoms, improve their quality of life and/or extend their survival.

The approval was based on data from a two-part study in which one group of 4- to 5-year-olds with DMD was treated with Elevidys and another group received a placebo. 

After a 48-week observation, the participants who received Elevidys showed an increase in the Elevidys micro-dystrophin protein in their DMD genes.

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"In making this decision, the FDA considered the potential risks associated with the drug, the life-threatening and debilitating nature of the disease for these children, and the urgent unmet medical need," the announcement noted.

Next, the FDA will require Sarepta Therapeutics to conduct another study to measure whether Elevidys improves physical function and mobility in patients as a means of demonstrating clinical benefit.

Some potential side effects of Elevidys include nausea, vomiting, fever, low blood platelet count and acute liver injury, the FDA stated. 

Less common risks include muscle inflammation and heart disease.

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Addiction complicates pain management but new guidelines offer help for 'complex patients'

Opioids are often prescribed for pain management after surgery — but for the 19 million people in the U.S. with a history of substance abuse, that option may not be safe or desired.

Until now, there hasn’t been a cohesive set of guidelines for managing surgical pain in patients with a history of addiction and/or opioid tolerance. 

To address this, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) gathered 15 medical organizations representing over 500,000 physicians to develop seven guiding principles to improve pain management before, during and after surgery for these patients.

The guidelines have been published in the Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine journal.

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Dr. David Dickerson, an anesthesiologist and pain specialist at North Shore University Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, has had a leadership role on the ASRA Pain Medicine Committee for several years. (ASRA is the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.)

"Patients with these complex issues may require additional care after surgery," Dickerson told Fox News Digital. 

"When someone undergoes a surgical procedure and they have a substance use disorder, chronic pain or pre-operative opioid tolerance, their nervous system is different," he told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

"Their ability to self-soothe in the face of injury or pain is also going to be a very different experience."

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As the director of four hospitals, Dickerson sees patients with many different types of pain in many different care environments. It's why he's calling for adopting a unified approach for patients who may not have a straightforward experience with pain management when it comes to surgery, injury, trauma or disease. 

"We want to make sure the patient has a consistent experience in terms of getting pain alleviated and also minimizing the risks of pain treatments," he said.

Over a span of several years, Dickerson and other pain management specialists and physicians crafted the following seven principles to use as a "north star" for screening, treating and educating these vulnerable patients, while building awareness and education for safe and effective surgical care.

Physicians should "screen for substance abuse preoperatively, risk stratify and refer for treatment as needed," the first principle states.

The doctor should speak with the patient prior to surgery to determine whether there is any history of substance abuse, identify any risk factors and provide recommendations for referrals as needed.

"As the majority of patients receive a post-surgery opioid prescription and 100,000 Americans die annually from accidental opioid overdose, clinicians should identify patients with a substance use disorder and facilitate evaluation and treatment before surgery," Dickerson told Fox News Digital. 

"Identifying and treating substance use disorders saves lives — especially when we recognize that 19 million Americans have at least one substance use disorder."

"Coordinate care pre-operatively for complex patients and consult with pain medicine, behavioral health or addiction medicine specialists to optimize the treatment plan," the second principle states.

This entails a multidisciplinary approach to patient care. This is when multiple health care professionals come together to define the appropriate treatment plan for an at-risk patient.

"Patients with these complex issues may require additional care after surgery," Dickerson said. 

"A team of experts can plan and coordinate care that can help avoid a rocky surgical experience."

This principle states: "For opioid-tolerant patients, coordinate and plan with the opioid prescriber to continue the home regimen; supplement analgesics perioperatively as needed."

"Opioid-tolerant" patients are those who have been taking an opioid drug on a regular basis, resulting in the need for larger amounts to achieve the same effect.

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"Patients taking opioids for weeks before surgery should not stop their opioids unless directed to do so, and clinicians should work to have a plan that avoids undertreating pain through using additional pain medications," Dickerson said.

In some cases, it may be necessary to continue home medications at pre-surgery doses to avoid withdrawal symptoms and a rough recovery, he noted. 

"More opioids after surgery isn’t always the ideal option, either," Dickerson added.

"There are many non-opioid therapies that are added to the home regimen to provide relief."

This principle states, "For opioid-tolerant patients, return to preoperative opioid dose or lower as soon as possible with an individualized tapering plan."

In the event that an opioid-tolerant patient needs to increase the dose for post-surgery pain, the guidelines call for using the lowest necessary dose.

If pre-surgery doses are increased after surgery for pain relief, those extra doses should be reduced as soon as possible as the patient heals, Dickerson said.

"This is often an individualized process, tailored to the patient’s day-to-day experience and recovery," he added. "It is necessary to avoid creating even more significant opioid tolerance and dependence."

This principle says: "Educate patients and caregivers about opioid risks, how to recognize and treat respiratory depression, avoiding sedatives and alcohol, and when to call for help."

While opioids can reduce pain, they also present specific risks and side effects that patients and their families should watch for, Dickerson said.

Additionally, he warned that alcohol and other sedatives should be avoided while taking opioids.

"Patients and their caregivers should know what to watch for and how to identify and respond to side effects before injury or harm occurs," he said.

Some patients may be prescribed naloxone, an opioid antidote that can be given to reverse the effects of an overdose, Dickerson explained. Naloxone nasal spray can now be obtained by anyone without a prescription as an over-the-counter medication.

"If adverse drug effects or uncontrolled pain occur, consult with a pain specialist or anesthesiologist," this principle states.

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"Patients shouldn’t have to suffer after surgery with uncontrolled pain or awful medication side effects like nausea, vomiting, itching or constipation," Dickerson said. 

"Anesthesiologists and other pain specialists can provide additional treatments and therapies to reduce pain and the burden of side effects."

He also said, "We have to work together to help patients have access to this team-based care."

"If expert consultation is needed but in-person evaluation is not available, utilize telehealth to access pain medicine, behavioral health or addiction medicine," states this principle.

Not all hospitals or clinicians have access to dedicated specialists in addiction or pain medicine, noted Dickerson. In scenarios where an in-person visit isn’t possible, the guidelines recommend relying on telehealth evaluation and consultations. 

"We have to find a way to connect in-need patients and clinicians with help in a timely fashion and make sure patients without technology access or tech literacy still can connect with the care they need," said Dickerson.

Dr. Chris Tuell, clinical director of addiction services at the Lindner Center of HOPE at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, was not involved in creating the seven principles. He said he believes they are "a good start" and "a step in the right direction."

He told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement, "We know that continuity of care and communication is essential in providing quality health care. Good treatment begins with good screening and assessment."

Given the fact that 83% of the individuals with substance use disorders also have a co-occurring mental health issue (per the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), Tuell emphasized the need to coordinate care between the patient and his or her opioid prescriber and to create an individualized treatment plan.

"These principles stress the importance of the education of the patient and the caregiver," he said. "Understanding the risks of opioids, and the dangers of utilizing alcohol or sedatives as a means of dealing with the adverse side effects of opioids, is essential."

In situations when someone in recovery cannot use opioids, Tuell said behavioral strategies — such as hypnotherapy, meditation and dialectical behavioral therapy — can be used to help manage pain. 

"I have utilized hypnotherapy with patients to assist in the regulation of pain when opioids were not an option," said Tuell. 

"Additionally, the use of teletherapy has provided therapy services for many underserved individuals who are residing in rural communities in which services are not readily available."

Dr. Lea McMahon, a licensed professional counselor, chief clinical officer at Symetria Recovery in Houston, Texas, and an adjunct professor of psychology at Columbia College, has helped many patients and people in recovery who have had to have surgery.

One patient at Symetria’s Chicago office, Ralph, 36 (he did not share his last name), became addicted to OxyContin after having surgery following a motorcycle accident in 2016. 

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After five years of addiction, he was in recovery for two years when he twisted his ankle in a stairwell in November 2022.

"He was already suffering a little from joint soreness before this, but he didn't want to go back under the knife, as the pain was manageable," said McMahon.

"However, this new injury meant he could hardly bear weight on the ankle for over a month, so he decided to have the surgery."

Ralph had arthroscopic surgery to remove the excess scar tissue from the first operation and remove the build-up of debris.

"After a discussion with his health care provider and surgeon, it was decided to perform the operation under local general anesthetic, as with general anesthesia the entire body is in a state of deep sedation, which can increase inflammation and postoperative pain compared to local anesthesia," McMahon said. 

After the operation, Ralph’s pain medication was minimal, and he preferred to take less than recommended. 

He used Advil for inflammation and could swap it out for Motrin if the pain level persisted.

Another patient, Indie (no last name given), spent 10 years addicted to heroin. She was in recovery for four years.

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When she suffered a burst appendix and was rushed to the ER in Houston, Texas, her sponsor shared her recovery status with the medical team and urged them not to give her any pain medications before the operation. Since it was an emergency, Indie was given a general anesthetic before surgery.

"After the procedure, her sponsor and family liaised with the medical team to keep her in the hospital for a few extra days," McMahon said. "Barring any complications, patients can leave in one or two days, but this was extended to a week, so the hospital could monitor and manage Indie’s pain medication safely."

The pain medication was administered throughout a 24-span to temper the severity of the pain she was suffering. 

"Self-administering of painkillers usually means the patient takes tablets when the pain starts to become unbearable, and this can then result in them looking elsewhere for stronger, more dangerous drugs," McMahon explained. 

"The use of around-the-clock dosing suppressed the pain and provided better comfort for Indie."

Over the next seven days, the medication intervals remained the same, but the dose was gradually reduced.

After she was discharged, Indie was given a week’s supply of Tylenol and a non-opioid analgesic — and was instructed to call her physician twice a week to share her pain levels.

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AI tech aims to help patients catch disease early even reverse their biological age

In humanity's quest to live longer, healthier lives, technology — particularly artificial intelligence — is playing an ever-bigger role and expanding into more areas of health care.

A California-based medical technology company named Prenuvo, for instance, offers full-body MRI scans that leverage AI to screen patients for over 500 conditions — including tumors, aneurysms and cysts — in less than an hour.

Now, Prenuvo is announcing a partnership with Cenegenics, a Las Vegas-based company that offers "personalized performance health age management" for its patients. It will monitor their bloodwork for over 90 biomarkers in an attempt to slow the biological aging process.

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With the partnership, patients of Cenegics will have access to Prenuvo’s full-body AI scans, which will help fill in any gaps and provide doctors with a better picture of patients’ health.

"We are driven by a shared vision of enhancing both healthspan and lifespan in our pursuit of transforming the health care paradigm from reactive to proactive," said Prenuvo co-founder and CEO Andrew Lacy in a press release announcing the partnership. 

"By combining Prenuvo’s advanced diagnostic-quality imaging capabilities with Cenegenics’ steadfast dedication to healthy longevity, we’re helping patients get data-driven insight into their baseline health and make lifestyle modifications before it’s too late."

Cenegenics' patients will have access to Prenuvo’s whole-body scans at participating locations, including in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, New York, Dallas, Chicago and Boca Raton. 

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Cenegenics has collected more than 25 years of longitudinal data on its patients, CEO Kristy Berry told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement. 

"The biomarkers found in our blood provide amazing insights about our health, wellness and the likelihood of disease due to cellular inflammation," Berry said. 

"As we age, our biomarkers tell the tale of a lifetime of decisions we have made with regard to nutrition, exercise and sleep."

Cenegenics aims to help patients "reverse their biological age" by working with their performance health team to achieve biomarker results that are equal to a person many years — sometimes decades — younger than they are. This is achieved through a strict program of nutrition, exercise, sleep, nutraceuticals and prescription medicines, Berry explained.

Now, with the Prenuvo partnership, Cenegenics will fill in any gaps in patient data through the use of AI scanning.

"We are actively exploring how AI can assist in the recommendations our physicians make to reverse biological age," Berry said. "We see AI as a valuable addition to the experience and expertise we have accumulated over our history and look forward to the additional insights it can provide."

Prenuvo’s AI technology aims to improve patient outcomes by catching warning signs that are too small to be detected even by the best medically trained eye, Lacy, the CEO, told Fox News Digital in an email.

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"Everything we know about disease is based on diagnosing it at a chronic or advanced stage," he said. 

With AI, he added, "we are working toward identifying the early beginnings of disease with the hope that we can intervene even earlier than we thought possible."

Prenuvo’s scans are trained to detect the early stages of disease progression in every organ, from measuring the curve angles of every vertebra of the spine to evaluating the cortical ridges outside the brain, Lacy explained.

"We believe that using AI to quantify very small changes over time will enable us to determine normal aging and how the people we scan are tracking, organ by organ," he said.

On average, Prenuvo scans alert one in every 20 patients to a life-saving diagnosis.

Mona, a mom of two children under 2 years old in the East Bay of California, is one example. (She did not share her last name.)

A couple of weeks after having her second baby, she was feeling a lot of fatigue and continued to gain weight. 

"Something just felt off," she said in a video interview provided by Prenuvo.

With a recommendation, she got a full-body MRI scan at one of Prenuvo’s locations. The young mother was shocked when the results showed that she had thyroid cancer.

"It just wasn’t even on my radar," the mom said.

Because her cancer was caught early, it was treatable. After surgery and lifestyle changes, she is now cancer-free and thriving.

Another patient was Ryan Crownholm, a former military member who ran a demolition company in Los Angeles. He’d been exposed to toxins over the years and chose to get a Prenuvo scan.

"I really had no expectations of finding anything," he said in an interview with Prenuvo.

Crownholm was stunned when his doctor called to tell him the scan had detected a large mass on his kidney. He’d had no symptoms at all. 

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After a biopsy, the doctors determined it was stage 3 cancer.

"For me, to catch it so early, it’s been a blessing," he said. "It was as simple as having my kidney removed and going on with my life."

As AI continues to grow in popularity, Lacy pointed out that there can be risks of inaccurate claims about what the technology can do. 

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"While there is a lot of excitement in the field of AI to replace the diagnosis that radiologists make, what we are most actively excited about … is how AI can help us understand early signs of disease progression and quantify a person’s health trajectory," he said.

In the health care arena, he stressed, it’s essential to use these technologies to add value and diagnostic accuracy.

"We know this will take time, so we are investing carefully in AI in innovative and scientifically based ways."

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Daily use of low-dose aspirin may increase anemia risk in healthy older adults: study

Long-term use of low-dose aspirin is associated with a 20% increased risk of developing anemia and a decline in blood iron levels in older adults, according to a new analysis of a National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trial.

The report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that a group of 19,114 healthy adults at least 65 years old were randomly assigned to take 100mg of aspirin or a placebo to determine the effect of low-dose aspirin on incident anemia, hemoglobin and serum ferritin concentrations.

The participants were monitored annually for hemoglobin concentration and three years after the baseline measurement for ferritin, a blood protein that contains iron.

At the end of the trial, researchers from Australia, New Zealand and the United States determined that taking low-dose aspirin on a daily basis appeared to increase anemia and reduce the levels of ferritin and hemoglobin. The results were independent of major bleeding.

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Anemia is fairly common among older adults, with up to 23% of people over the age of 65 developing the condition, according to a study published in Neurology. 

It is characterized by low levels of hemoglobin, and it often causes fatigue, shortness of breath or heart problems.

Researchers noted that nearly 50% of older people in the United States take aspirin for preventative reasons, including thinning the blood to counter cardiovascular disease and prevent strokes.

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Lead author Zoe McQuilten, an associate professor at Monash University's School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said while bleeding is a known side effect of aspirin, few previous studies had looked at the effect of prolonged aspirin use on the progressive development of anemia in older adults.

"This study gives a clearer picture of the additional risk of becoming anemic with aspirin use and the impact is likely to be greater in older adults with underlying diseases, such as kidney disease," McQuilten said.

Following the study, researchers suggested older adults who take low-dose aspirin regularly be monitored by their doctors for anemia.

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