| News-Breast Cancer Week of April 13, 2003/ Vol. 3 No. 15 |
|
|
|
Women can significantly reduce their risk of breast cancer after menopause by regularly taking over-the-counter painkillers aspirin or ibuprofen, according to researchers. The nation's largest women's health study found that found that taking two or more non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) per week for five to nine years reduced the risk of breast cancer by 21 percent. Taking the NSAIDs for 10 or more years resulted in an even greater reduction of 28 percent compared to women who didn't take the medicine. "These
results suggest that even women at high risk for breast cancer
may be protected by taking NSAIDs," Dr. Randall Harris of
Ohio State University said in a prepared statement. "However,
before usage guidelines for NSAIDs can be implemented, additional
studies are needed." Researchers
reported that that ibuprofen was more effective than aspirin in
preventing breast cancer (49 percent vs. 21 percent). Regular
use of low-dose aspirin had no effect. The new research,
which involved more than 80,000 of the 162,000 women ages 50 to
79 participating in the federally funded Women's Health Initiative,
was published in the Proceedings for the 94th Annual Meeting of
the American Association for Cancer Research. Other
sources: American Association for Cancer Research |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
