Take the newest analysis claiming aspirin prevents cancer that’s all over the news. Researchers looked at data on 82,600 women enrolled in the famous Nurses’ Health Study in 1980 and 47,650 men from in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study in 1986. They collected data on aspirin use, risk factors for cancer and diagnoses of cancer.
After up to 32 years of follow-up, about 20,400 women and 7,570 men developed cancer, the investigators found. But those who took a 325 mg dose of the pain-relieving drug – yes, it’s a synthetic drug – two times a week or more had a lower risk of gastrointestinal cancers than people who did not regularly take aspirin.
About 50 million Americans take a daily dose of aspirin, so are they safer from cancer than people who don’t? Well, the analysis was done at Harvard, so it must be right … right?
Not exactly. This survey could show many things depending on how you interpret it and what you’re looking for. Maybe all this survey shows is that people who are not technically considered at high risk for cancer are also deciding to use aspirin and are not getting cancer but probably wouldn’t have anyway. We just don’t know.
Also, did you know there’s a serious trade-off in taking aspirin every day, even if you restrict yourself to a child’s aspirin that’s only 81 mg?
Aspirin significantly thins the blood and can cause internal bleeding, including brain bleeding, at any dose. I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound good to me. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that for every person who may be saved by aspirin from a first heart attack or stroke, somebody else is victimized by significant gastrointestinal bleeding that, if allowed to go on too long, can prove fatal.
A survey by the University of Oregon of Americans ages 45 to 75, shows that 52 percent of people in this age group use aspirin and another 21 percent had used it in the past. Other studies have shown that aspirin use grew by at least 57 percent in the past decade.
Currently, the FDA thinks that a daily small dose of aspirin is worthwhile for people who have already had a heart attack or stroke. “There’s no doubt that aspirin use can have value for people who have experienced a first heart attack, stroke or angina,” says researcher Craig Williams. “The data to support that is very strong. The support of its use in primary prevention (for people who have not experienced cardiovascular problems) is more of a mixed bag.”
So even if your doctor recommends aspirin, consider your options carefully. You’re better off leading a heart-healthy lifestyle with a good diet and plenty of exercise than popping a pill that can cause internal bleeding. Even the FDA warns against taking aspirin as a “just in case” measure to ward off heart problems. Plus, as Dr. Michael Cutler tells me, there are plenty of natural ways to keep your heart healthy that don’t involve drugs.
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