According to the latest report from the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs® project, aspirin is the drug of choice for most people in need of a blood-thinning drug to help prevent a first or repeat heart attack or stroke.

Together with Aggrenox® (a combination of aspirin and the drug dipyridamole), clopidogrel (Plavix®), and ticlopidine (Ticlid®), aspirin belongs to a class of drug known as antiplatelets.

According to Steven Findlay, managing editor of Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs:

"This report will help doctors and consumers clarify the choices when it comes to use of blood-thinning medicines. The almost incredible advantage here is that tens of millions of people can benefit from taking a medicine -- aspirin -- that is among the least expensive available and does not require a prescription."

The said report, derived from 39 studies that directly compared the drugs from over 4,000 published studies screened, evaluated the effectiveness, safety, and cost of the four drugs in varying clinical circumstances - came up with following recommendations:

Aspirin

• for people who have risk factors for heart attack and stroke -- such as high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, and/or high cholesterol -- but who have not been diagnosed with heart disease or had a heart attack, stroke, or mini-stroke (also known as a transient ischemic attack, or TIA).
• for people diagnosed with heart disease and so-called "stable" angina

Clopidogrel (Plavix)

• for people who have been diagnosed with heart disease, have stable angina but can not take aspirin

[generic clopidogrel is no longer allowed to be marketed due to a court battle]

Aspirin + clopidogrel (Plavix)

• for people diagnosed with "unstable" angina or acute coronary syndrome (ACS), have had a heart attack, or have had angioplasty and stent placement in the past year

Aggrenox®

• for people who have had a stroke or mini-stroke (TIA)

Ticlopidine (Ticlid®)

• should not be prescribed at all because it poses some unique and dangerous risks and has no advantages over the other antiplatelet medicines.

Find more details from the full report.