What Doctors Don't Tell YouGood old aspirin. Not only is it being heralded as a heart attack preventative, it is now being put forward as a great way to reduce breast and colon cancer.
Several studies have already found that it and, to a lesser extent, the other NSAIDs (non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) can play an important role in reducing the risk of colorectal cancer. Apparently they can inhibit the cancer’s growth at key stages of its development.
But now researchers at a major French cancer research agency are suggesting that it could be equally as effective in preventing breast cancer. They point to research which suggests a reduced risk among women who take an NSAID three times a week for a year. But this finding needs to be set against a much larger study, of 89,528 women in the US, which could find no connection (BMJ, 1998; 317: 828).
Maryon Stewart
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD