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Nearly a third of middle-aged Americans regularly take a baby aspirin in the hope of preventing a heart attack or a stroke or lowering their cancer risk. But new research shows that aspirin is not for everyone, and that in some patients this so-called wonder drug is doing more harm than good.

Fifty-one percent of American adults take two or more pills each day—a prescription drug, an over-the-counter drug, or a vitamin or herbal supplement—according to a new survey. And nearly half, 46 percent, said they were taking an average of nearly three prescription medications a week. Predictably, more people tended to take more prescriptions, as they grow older.