Although low-dose aspirin is regarded by doctors as a heart-healthy med, a recent study found the tiny white tablet might not be so good for other parts of your body, according to findings published in an issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association and reported by MedPage Today.

For the study, researchers in Imbaro, Italy reviewed data for 186,425 patients who took low-dose aspirin between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2008 and compared them with others who did not take the drug during the same time period. Scientists tracked all the patients for almost 6 years.

The results? Researchers found those patients who used aspirin showed a higher risk of gastrointestinal and intercranial (brain) bleeding as compared with those who didn’t use the drug.

“Weighing the benefits of aspirin therapy against the potential harms is of particular relevance in the primary prevention setting, in which benefits seem to be lower than expected based on results in high-risk patients,” researchers said.

Other doctors who commented on the study stressed that for the best health outcome physicians must carefully consider each heart patient’s potential bleeding risk before prescribing aspirin therapy.

Scientists also found that a low-dose aspirin each day might lower people’s risk of a number of cancers. Click here to read more.