Scientists at the journal studied over 2,000 patients for the survey, with the results suggesting that aspirin could be as effective at helping those suffering from heart failure as the more commonly prescribed warfarin.

In the UK, 900,000 people suffer from problems relating to heart failure, while that figure is closer to six million in the States. In these cases, the heart struggles to pump blood around the body effectively, often making even simple tasks more difficult.

The results of the survey are being hailed as good news, but many are concerned with the findings. UK cardiologist Dr Andrew Clark argued, in a BBC interview, that warfarin has less risks connected to it.

He said, "The study shown here demonstrates that warfarin quite markedly reduces the risk of stroke associated with heart failure compared with aspirin, but at a cost of an increase in major haemorrhage.

"How to interpret that for individual patients means weighing the risk of stroke against the risk of haemorrhage, but also weighting that by importance.”

However, a spokesperson at the British Heart Foundation said both drugs have their drawbacks, and that "neither has an advantage over the other overall in preventing stroke or death in the long term."