Aspirin Might Prevent Cancer

The study presented a 20 percent decrease in the cancer deaths seen in the people who volunteered for it. Based on this discovery, the scientists have suggested that each person over 40, should take a small dose of aspirin each day. It is a known fact that aspirin has the capacity of protecting people from certain heart conditions, and from stomach problems as well.  The new study has revealed the fact that it could protect us against certain types of cancer including lung, esophagus, and stomach ones. 25,570 people participated to the study, and there were 8 different controlled trials of aspirin administration over the course of the study, which ended two decades ago. Aspirin has been a source of debated for a very long time now, as there were split opinions regarding it. There were many people who said that it should be taken daily, whereas there were many who said that taking it is useless.

The scientists said that the new discovery might convince people to take it daily, as they would realize that aspirin is very beneficial for them. However, they said that the new study should not be misinterpreted. They fear that all people will start taking them, even when they do not have to. Professor Peter Rothwell of the Department of Clinical Neurology at Oxford University, and who was the leader of the research, said that there still are certain risks associated with the aspirin intake, and that one should not start taking them without the supervision of the doctors. There were many people who suffered from stomach bleedings which were caused by the aspirin intake. This was the main reason why many people did not take the aspirin because they considered that the stomach bleeding were worse than the possible heart conditions.

He believes that the balance between the risks and the benefits associated with the aspirin intake might have been restored with the aid of this discovery. He said that he does not tell people to take the aspirin for very long periods of time, because it is unknown if a prolonged aspirin intake will leave a toll on the health of the individual. He said that further investigations in the domain need to be made, but he is convinced that there will not be too many side effects when it comes to taking aspirin for a very long time. Dr. Rothwell hopes that the discovery could be useful for further research, as certain medications and treatments might be used in order to prevent the various types of cancer. He and his colleagues have reached to the conclusion that one should take 75 mg of aspirin per day in order to protect himself from cancer.

That amount of aspirin is pretty low, as one would need about 300 mg in order to get rid of the pain. If one would take this small amount of aspirin each day for five years, he would reduce the chances of developing bowel cancer by 30 percent. It seems that in order for the aspirin to be effective people need to take it for more than 5 years, and that the benefits of the aspirin can be seen in the later years, in the fourth or fifth years of treatment or so. Dr. Rothwell believes that the discovery is very important, as it is the first time when it was discovered that a compound can reduce the odds of developing certain types of cancer. Up until this point it was believed that the compounds were the main reason why people developed certain types of cancer. He said that there might be other cases when a compound might be effective against the cancer. He also added that he was very surprised by the fact that something as simple as aspirin might be as effective against an illness as terrifying as cancer.

Some said that the study was not very conclusive because the majority of the people who participated to the study were men, and as a result it is unknown if the aspirin treatment might have the same benefits in the case of the women as well. There were similar studies in the past, but this is the first one which was based on randomized clinical trials. The past studies were done on women as well, and they revealed the fact that the ones who took aspirin for a prolonged period of time had lower chances of developing ovarian cancer than the ones who did not take the aspirin. It seems that not all types of cancer respond in the same manner to the treatment. For example the esophagus, pancreatic, brain, and lung cancers were reduced after one took aspirin for 5 years. One has to take aspirin for 10 years or more in order to protect himself against bowel or stomach cancer, and for 15 years against prostate cancer.

It seems that the aspirin is the most effective against the esophagus cancer, then the bowel cancer, and then the lung cancer. There are some who say that taking aspirin daily can be too costly, but Dr. Rothwell said that the costs are reduced in comparison to the other treatments one might take in order to reduce the possibility of developing cancer. It is unknown why the aspirin has this effect against the cancer, but there are many doctors who believe that the anti-inflammatory qualities of these medications are the reason why the drug is so effective against the disease. They can stop the inflammation, and the tumors need the inflammation in order to grow in the initial stages. More research will be done about this subject in the years to follow.11