AN aspirin a day can slash the risk of bowel cancer, it is revealed today.
Just one 75mg pill could cut the chance of getting the deadly disease by more than 30 per cent.
The new research is further evidence of the health benefits of the wonder drug.
Doctors already know aspirin can reduce the chance of a heart attack or stroke for those at high risk – and may even protect against dementia.
But the benefits significantly increased the longer the pills were taken, and those who took a daily dose for five years had 30 per cent less chance of getting the illness.
Experts say that the research offers new hope in the prevention of bowel cancer, which affects 38,500 people every year.
Scientists led by Professor Malcolm Dunlop at the University of Edinburgh looked at the effects of aspirin on almost 6,000 people, half who had bowel cancer and half who did not.
They found that healthy individuals who took a single pill every day after a year were 22 per cent less likely to develop bowel cancer rising to 30 per cent amongst people who took the tablets for five years.
The research, published in the journal Gut, found that doubling the dose of aspirin did not bring any added benefits.
Aspirin
Experts say that although the findings are very promising, people should consult their GP before taking the pills as there are potentially dangerous side effects.
Aspirin has been known to cause stomach ulcers, internal bleeding as well as heartburn and nausea.
Bowel cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in Britain and rates are increasing sharply, fuelled by soaring levels of obesity.
NSAIDs have previously been linked to an increased risk of internal bleeding.
But the study of 2,800 people with bowel cancer and 3,000 healthy people, published in the journal Gut, showed that a much smaller dose of just 75mg could provide significant protection against the disease.
The same dose is sometimes recommended for people recovering from heart attacks and stroke.
Some 18 per cent of healthy people studied said they were taking a low dose of aspirin, or other NSAIDs, at least four times a month, along with 16 per cent of those who had bowel cancer.
While there was no evidence taking NSAIDs influenced the risk of death in bowel cancer patients, it did have a significant protective effect for those who did not have the disease at the start of the trial.
Steve Williamson, Consultant Pharmacist in Cancer at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said: “This study adds to the weight of evidence already around that daily low dose aspirin can reduce risk of developing bowel cancer.
“However people must remember that aspirin even at its lowest dose isn’t suitable for everyone, and patients should always talk to their doctor or pharmacist about the potential benefits of taking aspirin.”
Mark Flannagan, chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, said: “These findings are encouraging, particularly as, unlike previous studies, this shows that even the lowest daily dose can have an effect on risk reduction after just one year.”
Aspirin (USAN), also known as acetylsalicylic acid (pronounced /??s?t?l?sæl??s?l?k/ ?-SET-?l-sal-i-SIL-ik, abbreviated ASA), is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication.
Aspirin also has an antiplatelet effect by inhibiting the production of thromboxane, which under normal circumstances binds platelet molecules together to create a patch over damage of the walls within blood vessels. Because the platelet patch can become too large and also block blood flow, locally and downstream, aspirin is also used long-term, at low doses, to help prevent heart attacks, strokes, and blood clot formation in people at high risk for developing blood clots. It has also been established that low doses of aspirin may be given immediately after a heart attack to reduce the risk of another heart attack or of the death of cardiac tissue.
The main undesirable side effects of aspirin are gastrointestinal ulcers, stomach bleeding, and tinnitus, especially in higher doses. In children and adolescents, aspirin is no longer used to control flu-like symptoms or the symptoms of chickenpox or other viral illnesses, because of the risk of Reye’s syndrome.
Aspirin was the first discovered member of the class of drugs known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), not all of which are salicylates, although they all have similar effects and most have inhibition of the enzyme cyclooxygenase as their mechanism of action. Today, aspirin is one of the most widely used medications in the world, with an estimated 40,000 tonnes of it being consumed each year. In countries where Aspirin is a registered trademark owned by Bayer, the generic term is acetylsalicylic acid (ASA).
- Similar posts
- Over 45's should take an aspirin daily (12.9%)
- Aspirin - good or bad? (12.7%)
- Aspirin use being questioned (10.6%)
- Capsiplex anti obesity drug sells out in days (10%)
- Aspirin reduces cancer risk (9.4%)
PM David Cameron has announced £60m over the next four years to introduce the latest cancer screening technology.
He said better bowel cancer screening, using flexible sigmoidoscopy, could save 3,000 lives a year.
Mr Cameron said he wanted to close the gap between the UK’s rate of cancer survival and the European average by at least 5,000 lives.
Labour said the policy “watered down” its 2009 pledge to deliver diagnostic tests within a week of seeing a GP.
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: “Investment in cancer is welcome but this is a watered down version of Gordon Brown’s pledge at the Labour Party Conference last year.
“We committed to delivering all cancer diagnostic tests within one week. This flagship pledge would have saved money and saved lives and it is disappointing not to see it implemented in full.”
Cancer Research UK welcomed the use of new screening, saying it could help cut deaths by nearly half.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Mr Cameron said: “I absolutely want to close that gap [in survival rates] and the announcement today is part of that.”
He said recognising early warning signs was a key part of achieving the goal.
A major study is to be carried out to find out whether taking two pills a day – containing fish oil and aspirin – could help prevent bowel cancer.
About 1,000 people are to be recruited from the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) in England to take part in the research.
The study, led by the University of Leeds, will look at the pills’ effects.
The trial is expected to begin in April or May next year and up to 30 English hospitals in will be involved.
Protective effect
Bowel cancer is the world’s third most common cancer, with more than a million new patients being diagnosed each year.
In most cases, the cancer develops from tiny, slow-growing nodules on the bowel wall, known as polyps.
Previous studies have shown that a substance found naturally in fish oil known as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and aspirin can each, taken on their own, provide some protection against bowel polyps.
“Taken together, the protective effect may be even greater, as researchers now intend to find out,” said Leeds University’s Professor Mark Hull, who is leading the trial.
‘Major advantage’
If effective pills could be found, patients at risk of developing the growths would need far fewer check-ups.
“A major advantage of EPA and aspirin is that they are both safe, have few side effects and they are already used widely by people who have heart disease or who have had a stroke,” said Prof Hull.
“Other drugs that have been shown to prevent bowel polyps have been linked to an increase in heart attacks, so they are unsuitable for widespread use.
Taking aspirin daily during pregnancy could help prevent complications in women at risk of high blood pressure, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has said.
High blood pressure in pregnancy can be harmul and is associated with the condition pre-eclampsia.
It is more common in first-time pregnancies and can lead to premature birth, stillbirth and babies being smaller than average.
Mothers are also at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure later in life, which is linked to heart disease and strokes.
Nice recommends that women with high blood pressure at moderate to high risk of pre-eclampsia take a low dose (75mg) of aspirin.
This should be taken every day from the 12th week of pregnancy until birth, according to the guideline for the NHS in England and Wales.
Aspirin is not routinely given to pregnant women and Nice hopes the advice will ensure consistent standards across the country.
“Hypertension, or high blood pressure, can be fairly common and can develop at any time during pregnancy. If not properly managed, it can cause serious health problems,” Sky News quoted Fergus Macbeth, director of the centre for clinical practice at Nice, as saying.
A new Australian study has revealed that the humble painkiller aspirin really can save lives and drastically reduce rates of stroke and heart attack.
Meg Jardine from the George Institute for Global Health said there has been uncertainty over whether the analgesic, which has blood-thinning properties, should be used more broadly to combat cardiovascular disease.
“Until now there”s been no clear evidence that aspirin therapy benefits people at high risk of heart disease and stroke, including those with chronic kidney disease,” said Jardine.
Jardine and her fellow researchers analysed data from an international study of over 18,000 people with high blood pressure aged between 50 and 80 – about 20 percent of who had mild to moderate Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).
It showed that daily aspirin use over a four-year window could prevent 54 deaths, 40 strokes and 40 non-fatal heart attacks for every 1,000 people with kidney disease.
There was a particular benefit for people who had survived one heart attack or stroke, as daily aspirin was shown to help stave off a recurrence.
Jardine also took into account the increased number, and severity, of internal bleeding cases that would occur as the downside of its blood-thinning side-effects.
“We found the cost for preventing deaths and reducing the incidence of heart attacks and strokes was that there would be an additional 27 major and 12 minor bleeds in every 1,000 people with CKD taking aspirin,” English.news.cn quoted Jardine as telling ABC News.
The study was in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.