# Aspirin and low cholesterol

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspirin-and-low-cholesterol/646377>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 7, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspirin-and-low-cholesterol/646377 "2013-01-07T18:53:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspirin-and-low-cholesterol/646377/1 "2013-01-07T18:53:15Z")

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Most things that come up in google concern themselves with high cholesterol. Does it make sense to take a daily aspirin to mitigate cardiovascular risk if one has LOW cholesterol - low as in 158? I am asking because a cardiologist has me taking a low 81 mg every day and I’m wondering if he’s just approaching me with a standard cookie cutter approach without regard to my actual cholesterol reading. I have been diagnosed with a wandering atrial pacemaker and multifocal atrial tachycardia. I am 63.

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**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspirin-and-low-cholesterol/646377/2 "2013-01-07T19:06:18Z")

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I don’t think aspirin affects cholesterol. It makes the blood thinner.

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**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspirin-and-low-cholesterol/646377/3 "2013-01-07T19:32:18Z")

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I know that atrial fibrillation can increase the risk of stroke, and while that isn’t what you have, what you do have is like a less extreme version, so he may be acting on precaution, especially if it turned into fibrillation; like \*\*bup \*\*said, aspirin “thins” the blood and reduces the chances of blood clots.

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**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aspirin-and-low-cholesterol/646377/4 "2013-01-07T19:43:54Z")

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Michael - ah, that makes sense. I ask, however, because a stroke took my father down at 53 but it was in the sixties when I was very young, so I don’t know if it was a hemorrhage or a clot. But I did read about the atrial fib causing clots.