A study from Denmark recently showed that a person taking one or two baby aspirins per day, for at least five years, was linked to a lowered risk of colorectal cancer.
Previous studies have long proposed that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and aspirins like ibuprofen can help protect individuals from colorectal cancer.
However, the dosage and longevity of the drug intake to achieve such benefits were never clarified.
But thanks to the Denmark study - which used data from 113,000 proponents - researchers have finally figured out the connection between aspirins and NSAIDs, how long they should be taken, and colorectal cancer rates.
Reuters Health via Yahoo! News reports that the risk of getting colorectal cancer generally varies due to the background of an individual. Factors such as age, race, ethnicity and lifestyle are some that need to be considered.
In fact, over 90% of colorectal cancer cases are "diagnosed in people older than 50, according to the National Cancer Institute."
The Denmark study shows that taking low doses of aspirin every single day for a minimum of five years deemed to have lessened the risk of developing the type of cancer by 27 percent. Meanwhile, using non-aspirin NSAIDs for the same amount of time seemed to have reduced the risk by 30 percent.
As reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine, "merely having taken aspirin did not alter the colorectal cancer risk."
Dr. Soren Friis from the Danish Cancer Society Research Center in Copenhagen told Reuters Health: "Unless low-dose aspirin is taken continuously, there is little protection against colorectal cancer."
Similar to low-dose aspirins, non-aspirin NSAIDs could also protect individuals from developing colorectal cancer when taken for a long period of time.
"And there was some indication that even non-continuous use of these agents may be (marginally) effective for the prevention of colorectal cancer," said Dr. Friis.
But this does not necessarily mean that taking aspirins on a regular basis could be safe. In fact, Aspirins and NSAIDs have their own risks - long-term uses can lead to ailments like gastrointestinal bleeding.
Although the new study is a breakthrough in colorectal cancer research, Dr. Friis does not advise taking aspirin or NSAIDs just because of the new discoveries.
