Aspirin Use Effective in Preventing Colon Cancer in Men, Latest Study Confirms
February 12, 2008
If you're a man and take at least two standard 325 mg. aspirin tablets weekly, you may be able to reduce your chances of getting colon cancer by more than 20 percent, The New York Times reports.
Reporting on a study in the January 2008 issue of the journal Gastroenterology, the newspaper said that the latest study, led by Harvard assistant professor of medicine Dr,. Howard T. Chan, confirmed earlier randomized studies indicating that prolonged aspirin use can act as a deterrent to colorectal cancer.
Men who took between 6 and 14 standard aspirin pills weekly decreased their colon cancer risk by 28 percent, and those who took more than 14 pills a week had a 70 percent decline in risk, the Times reported.
However, two cautions are important, the newspaper added. First, aspirin can be very difficult on some stomachs and can even cause intestinal bleeding. Second, the results were measured on a test group of 47,000 men over a very long time -- 18 years. The effectiveness of aspirin use occurs only after continuous use for five years or more, the Times reported.
"The results provide additional proof that a simple drug like aspirin can help prevent colon cancer," Chan told the newspaper.
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