An aspirin a day keeps heart disease and cancer away

Susan Aldridge, PhD

December 9, 2002

 Doctors at the Mayo Clinic summarize the preventive health benefits of regular aspirin and conclude it can help reduce the risk of several diseases.

Aspirin is best known for its ability to reduce the risk of heart disease. In a famous study of 22,000 physicians, published in 1989, those who took daily aspirin had a 44 per cent decrease in heart attack risk. Other research suggests that people at high risk of stroke are protected by aspirin.

More recent is the impact of regular aspirin on the risk of cancer. One study shows that people who take aspirin every day have half the risk of colon cancer. And aspirin has also been shown to reduce the risk of cancers of the esophagus, stomach, rectum, prostate and pancreas. It's not yet known how aspirin reduces cancer risk, but it may be because it blocks the action of prostaglandins - hormone-like substances that could be involved in tumor growth.

It may be worth asking your doctor if you could benefit from aspirin. It is generally thought that men over 40 and women past menopause have the most to gain with respect to heart disease prevention. But never start on daily aspirin without medical advice, for it can cause severe side effects on certain people.

Source: Mayo Clinic Health Letter December 2002

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