Scientists answered the main questions about the drug, which can be found in any home first aid kit.
40 years ago, scientists proclaimed an inexpensive pain reliever to be a miraculous cure — relieving pain, preventing heart disease, thinning the blood and preventing clogging of arteries, the Daily Mail writes.
After that, doctors immediately included aspirin in the recommendations – the drug is recommended to all people over 55 to prevent heart attacks.
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Eight years ago, aspirin gained a reputation as a miracle cure – the drug has also been named one of the best cancer-fighting drugs for its ability to reduce the level of cell-damaging inflammation in our bodies. Again, doctors began to recommend a daily prophylactic dose.
As a result, millions of people today take aspirin in doses as low as 75 to 100mg per day to prevent heart attacks and cancer. Others take high doses of aspirin (from 300mg per day) for headache and fever, among other pains.
Approximately 40 thousand tons of aspirin are produced annually in the world. Today, however, the “shining star” of the miracle pill seems threatened. New research is increasingly warning that aspirin also has some pretty serious side effects – when used daily, the drug can lead to stomach ulcers and internal bleeding.
History of the drug
Aspirin is based on salicylic acid, a natural substance found in willow bark.
The first mention of the substance is found in writings 4000 years ago – it is described as a pain reliever for rheumatism. Hippocrates, the father of ancient Greek medicine, recommended this substance for pain, childbirth and fever.
Another source of salicylic acid is meadowsweet – the plant was considered sacred to the English Druids in the 14th century and was mentioned by Chaucer.
The first scientific study of willow bark was made by the English cleric Edward Stone in the 1700s. In his study, he noted that he had successfully used willow bark to treat fever in his congregation of fifty.
However, the first laboratory version of acetylsalicylic acid as a pain reliever was developed in 1897 by a German chemist, Dr. Developed by Felix Hoffmann. In fact, this discovery was the beginning of today’s pharmaceutical industry. At the same time, the compound was first registered as aspirin.
Can aspirin prevent cancer?
After World War II, doctors around the world began to notice that patients who regularly took aspirin for chronic pain had lower rates of cardiovascular disease.
A 1980 study by Oxford University professor and epidemiologist Richard Peto showed that people who took aspirin regularly had a one-quarter reduced risk of death and cardiovascular disease.
And in 2014, Jack Cusick, professor of epidemiology at Queen Mary University of London, published a study stating that more than 130,000 people in the UK could prevent cancer deaths if all those people aged 50 to 64 took low-dose aspirin. .
Studies have shown that the greatest effect is observed in cancer of the intestine, stomach and esophagus. At the same time, outcomes were significantly lower in prostate and breast cancer, as well as lung cancer.
However, as early as 2016, a group of scientists from the UK, Spain and the USA analyzed nearly 40 studies and found that taking small daily doses of aspirin puts you at a risk of bleeding that far exceeds its benefit in preventing cardiovascular disease.
Since then, the number of such studies has only increased. As a result, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) stated that people over the age of 60 should stop taking small daily doses of aspirin.
bleeding risk
In 2009, the USPSTF recommended that doctors prescribe low-dose aspirin as a strategy to prevent cancer and heart disease. That has changed, however, and the USPSTF now believes the risk of aspirin-induced internal bleeding is higher than previously thought. As a result, people aged 40 to 59 are only advised to take low-dose aspirin daily if they have a genetic predisposition to heart disease.
At the same time, people 75 years and older are not recommended to take aspirin at all – at this age there is little benefit. At the same time, people who take daily aspirin are asked to be careful when they suffer various injuries and cuts.
In addition, the USPSTF warns that aspirin not only causes intestinal bleeding, but also damages the gastric and intestinal mucosa by causing ulcers in the intestines.
The study of Australian scientists, in which approximately 17 thousand people aged 70 and over participated, took 4.5 years. Researchers have found that people who consume low doses of aspirin daily have a significantly increased risk of serious injury or even death following a fall.
Scientists suggest this may be due to the drug’s anticoagulant effect: people who fall while taking aspirin may have severe bleeding or bruising that requires emergency care.
Are statins “much safer”?
According to scientists, one solution to the problem may be the daily use of aspirin in small doses only by people at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease and stroke – for example, smokers and genetically predisposed patients. The rest of the researchers are strongly advised to take statins – cholesterol-lowering drugs.
These findings are supported by a study of 15,500 healthy recipients with type 2 diabetes by Jane Armitage, professor of clinical trials and epidemiology at the Oxford MRC Population Health Research Unit.
The study showed that taking low-dose aspirin daily resulted in a 12% reduction in the risk of heart problems, but it also resulted in a corresponding increase in the risk of bleeding.
The risks of cardiovascular disease increase as these people age, but their risk of bleeding also increases. It is very difficult to find a middle ground where you gain more benefit than harm.
In addition, scientists have found inconsistencies in studies suggesting that a daily dose of aspirin may reduce the risk of bowel cancer. A decline was indeed observed in the early stages of the analyses, but after 7 years of testing, in 2018 the scientists did not see any benefit.
Previously Focus He wrote about which diseases are exacerbated in winter: flu, covid and monkeypox in the winter of 2022-2023.
Source: Focus
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.