Originally published September 8 2005
Long-term aspirin use can cause internal bleeding
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Although taking pain relievers like aspirin or ibuprofen over a period of at least 10 years can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, it can also significantly increase the risk for stomach or intestinal bleeding, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Taking aspirin, ibuprofen or similar pain relievers for at least 10 years significantly reduces the risk of colorectal cancer but also greatly increases the risk of serious bleeding in the stomach or intestines, a new study shows.
The pain relievers offer no significant protection to patients who take them for less than a decade, says Andrew Chan, a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and lead author of the article, published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
Based on the study's results, Chan says, taking more than 14 aspirin a week might prevent one or two cases of colorectal cancer in a community of 10,000 people over a year.
Women who took two regular, 325-milligram aspirin lowered their risk of colon cancer but only after taking the tablets for more than a decade, Chan says.
For example, women who took more than 14 aspirin a week for at least 10 years had a 53% lower risk of colorectal cancer.
Chan says his findings confirm the results of the Women's Health Study, published in the same journal last month.
In that 10-year study of nearly 40,000 women, scientists also found that taking low doses of aspirin, or 100 milligrams every other day, did not lower the risk of colon cancer.
Ernest Hawk, a prevention expert at the National Cancer Institute, notes that previous studies have found that smaller doses of aspirin reduced the risk of colon polyps in only one to three years.
Those earlier studies, in which doctors randomly assigned patients to take either aspirins or placebos, allow doctors to spot smaller changes in less time.
Institute researchers are studying ways to make aspirin safer, such as by combining it with drugs that protect the stomach or with other drugs that seem to combat cancer growth, Hawk says.
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