Taking a Daily Aspirin
Adults ages 50 to 69
who are at high risk for heart attack or stroke should take a daily
low-dose aspirin to prevent both heart attacks and strokes as well
colorectal cancer. That’s the latest advice from the United States
Preventive Services Task Force, an influential expert panel that
published a final recommendation last month in Annals of Internal
Medicine.
It was the first time a
major medical organization took this “new approach” of endorsing the
broad use of aspirin to prevent cancer, “which makes a great deal of
sense,” said Eric Jacobs, a researcher at the American Cancer Society.
The recommended dose is a low-dose or “baby” aspirin, typically sold in
doses of 81 milligrams.
Low-dose aspirin has
long been recommended for some people who have had a heart attack or
some forms of stroke, and for certain people at high risk for heart
disease. Several of the factors that put one at risk for heart disease —
such as obesity and being physically inactive — also play a role in
colon cancer.
Some experts think
aspirin is too risky for people who have never suffered a heart attack,
since aspirin increases the risks of potentially dangerous internal
bleeding.
But the task force’s
review of the evidence concluded that people in their 50s and 60s who
have at least a 10 percent chance of having a heart attack or stroke
over the next 10 years could benefit from a daily low-dose aspirin.
Those in their 60s are at greater risk for bleeds, which increase with
age, so doctors should weigh risks and benefits in individual patients.
There is no recommendation for aspirin use for people under 50 or for
those 70 and older.
If you’ve ever had a
gastrointestinal bleed or ulcer, you probably should not take aspirin.
Blood thinners, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, omega-3
supplements and uncontrolled high blood pressure also increase your risk
of bleeding, and the risk of a bleed is higher for men than for women.
Daily aspirin therapy should continue for at least 10 years.
Aspirin may also lower
the risk of other types of cancer, including esophageal and stomach
cancers, as well as cancers of the breast, prostate and lung, though the
level of evidence for these “is too weak to draw strong conclusions”
Dr. Jacobs said.
Although aspirin is a fairly new medical marvel, the drug itself is derived from the willow plant, which has been used as a painkiller for at least the past 6,000 years. As explained by How Stuff Works, it wasn’t until scientists worked on extracting and purifying the active ingredient in willow, salicin, that aspirin started to become what we know today.
In our digestive tract, salicin is broken into salicylic acid, which helps to reduce pain and inflammation. German scientists were able to synthesize this on a large scale, but unfortunately it was very hard on the stomach lining. Aspirin was created as a less acidic version of synthetic salicylic acid.
Pain is necessary, as it acts as a warning of danger, but it is unnecessary for us to be in constant pain once the danger of the injury has passed. In addition, some pain is not a result of injury and is unavoidable, such as menstrual cramps or headaches. Aspirin works by latching onto molecules which carry the pain sensations to the brain, alerting it to the injury. As a result, the brain registers less pain and there is also less of an inflammatory response.
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