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| Aspirin |
Study Links Aspirin to Colon
Cancer Survival Researchers say that some patients who used aspirin were more
likely to live longer than those who did not.
People since ancient times
have used aspirin-like medicines to fight pain and reduce high body
temperature.
Modern research has found other uses for aspirin. The drug acts as a blood
thinner. It can help blood flow past a blockage in an artery. Blockages can
cause heart attacks or strokes. As a result, patients at risk of blockages
might be advised by their doctors to take a low-strength aspirin every day.
And research continues. A new study has shown that aspirin can improve survival
in colon cancer patients.
It involved about one thousand three hundred patients with colorectal cancer.
The cancer had not spread to other parts of the body yet. The study compared
patients who took three hundred twenty-five milligrams of aspirin at least two
times a week with those who did not use aspirin.
The study found that the aspirin users had an almost thirty percent lower risk
of dying from their cancer. That was during an average of eleven years after
the cancer was discovered.
The study appeared last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
It was an observational study.
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Growths in the colon with cancer
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Last year, Doctor Chan reported that a long-term study of almost fifty thousand
men showed that aspirin can help prevent colon cancer. But the effects required
at least six years of regular use. And the greatest risk reductions were in
those who took more than fourteen aspirins per week.
But the researchers warned that the dangers from such large amounts of aspirin
should be carefully considered.
Aspirin can cause bleeding in the stomach, the intestines and the brain. People
who might want to consider taking aspirin as a preventative measure should
first talk to a doctor.
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