Small daily aspirin dose 'cuts cancer risk'

A small daily dose of aspirin substantially reduces death rates from a range of common cancers, a study suggests.

Research at Oxford University and other centres found that it cut overall cancer deaths by at least a fifth.

The study, published in the Lancet, covered some 25,000 patients, mostly from the UK.

Experts say the findings show aspirin's benefits often outweighed its associated risk of causing bleeding.

Aspirin is already known to cut the risk of heart attack and stroke among those at increased risk. But the protective effects against cardiovascular disease are thought to be small for healthy adults, and aspirin increases the risks of stomach and gut bleeds.

However, this latest research shows that when weighing up the risks and benefits of taking aspirin, experts should also consider its protective effect against cancer.

Those patients who were given aspirin had a 25% lower risk of death from cancer during the trial period and a 10% reduction in death from any cause compared to patients who were not given the drug.

via BBC News - Small daily aspirin dose 'cuts cancer risk'.

Further losing my hearing isn't worth the risk to me.  I'll take daily exercise.  Have you heard that aspirin may work by killing a fungus? Something else natural that reduces mycotoxins (like honey, yes honey) may have the same benefit without the risks. Perhaps one reason is that honey contains, among many other things, salicylic acid, a compound that is chemically similar to but not identical to the active component of asprin. Salicylic acid does cause hearing loss in rats, but not if they have enough zinc.  Interesting. I wonder if zinc will help the ringing in my ears.

NOTE: Never give honey to a child under a year old. "About 10 percent of honey contains dormant Clostridium botulinum spores, which can cause botulism in infants." (link)

... Is there a down side to this [aspirin] success story? The answer lies in the many well-documented — but poorly reported — side effects of the drug, both short and long term.

ASPIRIN SIDE EFFECTS

• Bleeding Gastrointestinal Irritation (heartburn, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease)
• Increased gastric permeability and altered immunity
• Gastrointestinal hemorrhage (ulcers): A Searle news release noted that GI complications caused by NSAIDs remain one of the most prevalent drug toxicities in the nation — leading to approximately 76,000 hospitalizations and 7,600 deaths annually — a mortality rate comparable to that of asthma, cervical cancer, or melanoma (skin cancer).
• Hemorrhagic stroke: heavy doses of 325-milligram adult aspirin (for example 15 or more tablets a week), can double the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. Older women with high blood pressure, taking large doses of aspirin, can triple their risk of hemorrhagic stroke; in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation, the benefit of prophylactic aspirin to prevent strokes is unproven.
• Aspirin can prolong pregnancy and childbirth and lead to bleeding in both baby and mother.
• Susceptible regular aspirin or acetaminophen users are two to three times more likely to have the beginning stages of chronic kidney failure, compared with individuals who did not use these painkillers on a regular basis. About 15% of the people on dialysis today are there as a result of the damage that Tylenol and/or aspirin did to their kidneys.
• Both aspirin and acetaminophen may also be associated with diverticular disease of the colon.
• Asthma
• People who are taking aspirin in combination with the blood-pressure-lowering ACE inhibitor drugs after angioplasty may be at risk for a dangerous drug interaction and a three-fold increase in risk of death.
• Prolonged aspirin use may raise risks for cataracts; the long-term (more than 10 years) use of aspirin is associated with a 44% higher increase of posterior subcapsular cataracts, compared with nonusers or short-term users of the drug. Posterior subcapsular cataracts are the most common and most disabling form of cataract. This aspirin-related risk is larger among younger (under 65 years of age) individuals compared with older subjects. (Ophthalmology 1998; 105:1751-1758).
• Chronic rhinitis and nasal polyps: aspirin sensitivity sinusitis may cause long-term facial pain, headaches and a loss of smell.
• Hives (urticaria)
• Hyperactivity
• Reye’s Syndrome in children; aspirin is the leading cause of poisoning in young children.
• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
• Hearing loss
• Vertigo
• Mental confusion
• Drowsiness
• Excessive sweating and thirst
• Inhibition of cartilage repair and accelerated cartilage destruction ...

There are some researchers and clinicians who have been able to demonstrate a direct link between the presence of fungi in the body and cardiovascular disease of all kinds. This is known as the “fungal mycotoxin etiology of atherosclerosis” and has been promoted by Dr. Costantini and other researchers working for the World Health Organization. According to these doctors, aspirin is an antifungal drug which can go a long way towards offsetting the negative effects of fungi and their mycotoxins. They believe that it is this antifungal property of aspirin which prevents heart disease, stroke and cancer — diseases all suspected to have a fungal mycotoxin etiology. Dandruff, a scalp condition caused by fungi, often responds well to shampoos containing aspirin or salicylate derivatives.  ...

via VitalityMag