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American Medicine
It is common to use aspirin to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. One baby aspirin a day is taken by millions of Americans to help to reduce or delay the occurrence of heart attacks. About 25% of Americans take daily aspirin (E. Jacobs and coauthors, J. National Cancer Institute August 10, 2012).
Recent information indicates that aspirin can also reduce the risk of certain cancers (reviewed in Science 2012; 337: 1471). The use of aspirin was found to be associated with reduced risk of colon or rectal cancer by 24%, and reduced death rate from colon or rectal cancer by 35%. A follow up study also indicated that there was a 21% reduction in risk of dying not only from colorectal cancer, but also other gastrointestinal cancers, including esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer. There is also a suggestion that aspirin may reduce the risk of breast cancer and lung cancer. The overall death rate from cancer is 16 to 37% less if people are taking aspirin daily for 5 or more years (according to E. Jacobs).
The risks of aspirin, although small, are potentially serious. Patients who take aspirin should watch out for bleeding. If you are taking aspirin, your physicians should be watching to see if you are having increased gastrointestinal bleeding. Rare patients are allergic to aspirin.
If you are taking aspirin as a part of your daily health regimen, consider the following:
– Ask your doctor about your risk of developing a serious cancer
– If you are at risk of gastrointestinal cancers, colon cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, or prostate cancer, discuss with your physician whether aspirin might be useful
– If the physician does not know, consider getting a second opinion from a physician who is familiar with aspirin benefits in cancer risk reduction
– Discuss with your physician whether you have conditions or diseases that might make aspirin therapy more dangerous
For more information about how to discuss disease prevention with your physician, see my new book Surviving American Medicine.
