I want to share some research showing that one of our oldest drugs, aspirin, may be useful for even more than preventing heart attacks.
Currently if you have suffered or have a moderate risk of having a heart attack, low-dose aspirin is usually recommended. The rationale is that aspirin helps prevent clots developing that can block arteries, leading to heart attacks.
It鈥檚 important to note that the reason not all people are recommended aspirin is that there is a risk of bleeding, in particular from the stomach. With the risks and benefits weighed up, it is not a routine recommendation unless you meet a certain threshold.
This threshold may change with new evidence showing aspirin may help reduce cancer risks. As medical journal The Lancet noted, low-dose aspirin may help prevent cancer.
Reported in Medical 今日吃瓜 Today:
鈥淸F]or people in middle age, taking a low dose of aspirin every day can help prevent cancer, particularly if they are at increased risk of the disease.
鈥淸T]hey also found aspirin can treat cancer in people who already have it, adding to evidence that it reduces the risk of metastasis, or spread to other parts of the body.
鈥淩othwell and colleagues pooled data from 51 randomized clinical trials that set out to compare the effect of taking a daily dose of aspirin against not taking any aspirin on cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. These trials had also collected data on cancer.
鈥淔rom the results they established that aspirin reduced the risk of cancer death by 15 percent, and this reduction increased with prolonged use. For instance, for those who took it for five years or more, the reduced risk of death from cancer was 37 percent.
Rothwell and colleagues also found that taking a low dose of aspirin every day did more than reduce deaths from cancer: it reduced incidence. After three years of aspirin use, the reduction in cancer incidence was 23 percent in men and 25 percent in women.鈥�
This research is both interesting and exciting, with aspirin being a cheap and easy intervention that may help not only reduce the rates of cardiac death but cancer as well.
This research would suggest if you have any risks for heart disease or cancers or have immediate family members living who have had cancers which you may be at risk of developing, aspirin could be useful.
I recommend you keep an eye on this research and talk with your doctor to see if daily aspirin may be a useful addition for you.
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By DR GEORGE FORGAN-SMITH
