How Aspirin Improves Colon Cancer and Many other diseases

Aspirin, or acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) is a salicylate drug, and is generally used as an analgesic (something that relieves pain without producing anesthesia or loss of consciousness) for minor aches and pains, to reduce fever (an antipyretic), and also as an anti-inflammatory drug.

We all that Aspirin is wander drug with many benefits. Here are some of benefits of taking Aspirin I found in web:

Heart Attack

Many people take a low dose of aspirin every day to lower their risk of a further heart attack or stroke, or if they have a high risk of either.

Heart disease

A new study has confirmed the importance of continuing to take aspirin daily long term for patients with a history of heart disease, finding that patients who stop taking aspirin are at a significantly increased risk of life threatening heart.

Major depression

A study that appears in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics addresses the association between use of aspirin and stains and the risk of major depression.

Crohn's disease

People who take aspirin regularly for a year or more may be at an increased risk of developing Crohn's disease, according to a new study by the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Migraine headache pain

A single dose of 900-1000 mg aspirin can substantially reduce migraine headache pain within two hours, for more than half of people who take it. It also reduces any associated nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light or sound.

Cox 2 benefit

Early results from a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine study may determine if drugs called Cox-2 inhibitors, a newer type of non-aspirin pain medicine now widely prescribed for arthritis symptoms, may benefit men

Breast cancer

Women who report regular use of aspirin appear to have a reduced risk of breast cancer, according to a study in the May 26 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)

Severe vision loss in elderly

Cholesterol-busting statins, the largest-selling prescription drugs in the U.S., may protect older people from blindness, a new study shows. Aspirin also appears to provide significant protection, according to the research. Scientists at UCSF

Aspirin cuts infection risk

Taking aspirin may help to reduce the risk of potentially deadly bacterial infection, say scientists. The discovery is the latest in a long line of benefits which have been attributed to aspirin.

What is colon cancer?

Cancer is a class of diseases characterized by out-of-control cell growth, and colon cancer forms when this uncontrolled cell growth initiates with cells in the large intestine. Most colon cancers originate from small, noncancerous (benign) tumors called adenomatous polyps that form on the inner walls of the large intestine. Some of these polyps may grow into malignant colon cancers over time if they are not removed during colonoscopy. Colon cancer cells will invade and damage healthy tissue that is near the tumor causing many complications.

Colon Cancer Survival Improves With Aspirin

Colon cancer patients who take aspirin regularly shortly after diagnosis tend to live for longer, researchers from Leiden University Medical Centre, the Netherlands, reported in the British Journal of Cancer. The authors explain that NSAIDs (non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs) have been known to have a preventive role with regards to colorectal cancer, and in particular, aspirin. Recently, some studies and experts have suggested that regular aspirin may have a therapeutic role too. However, studies so far have not been conclusive.

Dr Gerrit-Jan Liefers and team set out to determine what the therapeutic effect of aspirin/NSAIDs as adjuvant treatment might be on colorectal cancer patients after diagnosis. They carried out an observational population-based study. They gathered prescription data from the PHARMA linkage systems, focusing on patients who had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer (1998-2007). They selected people from the Eindhoven Cancer Registry, a population-based cancer registry.

Patients were classified into:

Pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis - aspirin/NSAID users

Pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis - non-aspirin/NSAID users

Just post-diagnosis - aspirin/NSAID users

Just post-diagnosis - non-aspirin/NSAID users

Out of 4,481 participants:

26% (1,1176) of them were non-aspirin/NSAID users

47% (2,086) of them were pre- and post-diagnosis aspirin/NSAID users

27% (1,219) of them were just post-diagnosis aspirin/NSAID users

Those taking a daily dose of aspirin for nine months or more after diagnosis had a 30% lower risk of cancer-related death compared to non-users. Even taking aspirin regularly for any length of time reduced the risk of death (by 23%).

The authors concluded in an Abstract in the same journal:

Aspirin use initiated or continued after diagnosis of colon cancer is associated with a lower risk of overall mortality. These findings strongly support initiation of a placebo-controlled trial that investigates the role of aspirin as adjuvant treatment in colon cancer patients.

 (Source- British Journal of Cancer)

How Aspirin Improves Colon Cancer and many other diseases: