Risks: Aspirin may head off esophagus disorder
Taking aspirin may reduce the chances of developing Barrett's esophagus, the leading risk factor for esophageal cancer, researchers say.
In Barrett's esophagus, tissue that lines the esophagus is replaced with tissue similar to the lining of the intestines. The condition, commonly found in people with acid reflux, affects about one per cent of American adults.
Harvard researchers compared 434 patients with Barrett's esophagus with 434 similar people without the problem. After controlling for age, sex, alcohol use and other factors, they found that those who took aspirin had a little less than half the risk for Barrett's esophagus, compared with those who did not.
Subjects who took more than 325 milligrams a day — one regular-size aspirin pill — were at lower risk than those who took less.
Aspirin inhibits the production of COX-2, an enzyme that produces inflammation and pain, and the authors believe this explains the effect. They acknowledged that the study, which appears in the July, 2012 issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, may have been biased by unknown differences between the two groups.
"To start taking aspirin to prevent Barrett's is probably not realistic, and if that were the only reason I'd be hesitant to recommend it," said the senior author, Dr Chin Hur, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard. "But there are other indications for taking aspirin, preventive benefits for cancer and heart disease."
Taking aspirin may reduce the chances of developing Barrett's esophagus, the leading risk factor for esophageal cancer, researchers say.
In Barrett's esophagus, tissue that lines the esophagus is replaced with tissue similar to the lining of the intestines. The condition, commonly found in people with acid reflux, affects about one per cent of American adults.
Harvard researchers compared 434 patients with Barrett's esophagus with 434 similar people without the problem. After controlling for age, sex, alcohol use and other factors, they found that those who took aspirin had a little less than half the risk for Barrett's esophagus, compared with those who did not.
Subjects who took more than 325 milligrams a day — one regular-size aspirin pill — were at lower risk than those who took less.
Aspirin inhibits the production of COX-2, an enzyme that produces inflammation and pain, and the authors believe this explains the effect. They acknowledged that the study, which appears in the July, 2012 issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, may have been biased by unknown differences between the two groups.
"To start taking aspirin to prevent Barrett's is probably not realistic, and if that were the only reason I'd be hesitant to recommend it," said the senior author, Dr Chin Hur, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard. "But there are other indications for taking aspirin, preventive benefits for cancer and heart disease."