Latest claim about ‘benefits’ of aspirin pales compared to its risks
Aspirin was supposed to be some sort of miracle drug.
But the only “miracle” is that so many doctors keep buying into the hype.
For years we were told that a daily aspirin was a surefire way to prevent a heart attack — and even the FDA later admitted that was nonsense.
Then we were promised that aspirin could stop Alzheimer’s — and that turned out to be wrong, too.
Now the newest study making the rounds is claiming that popping aspirin might keep you from ever getting cancer.
It’s a dangerous claim that could put you or someone you love at risk. And when you find out what the science really says, you may end up tossing your aspirin in the trash for good.
Some doctors out there just can’t stop rooting for it.
This must be what it feels like to be a Cleveland Browns fan (sorry, I couldn’t resist).
And one of the biggest aspirin cheerleaders out there — a guy who just won’t give up the ship — is Dr. Andrew T. Chan.
Any time you see a study making phenomenal claims about aspirin and its ability to prevent cancer, you can expect to find Dr. Chan’s name on it somewhere.
Guess where else you’ll find his name? On a list of paid consultants for Bayer and Pfizer, and as a speaker for the Aspirin Foundation (also supported by Bayer).
So it should come as no surprise that Dr. Chan is the head guy behind this latest study about aspirin and cancer.
Dr. Chan and crew are claiming that taking a daily aspirin could help cut your risk of ever getting cancer, especially colon and other GI cancers.
Sounds good, right? Right until you read the fine print.
You see, just to reduce your overall cancer risk by a measly 3 percent, you’d have to pop a low-dose aspirin every single day for five years!
Yep, you read that right. They want you choking down 1,825 doses of aspirin just to lower your cancer risk by three whole points.
That’s a terrible price to pay. I mean, you’d have a better chance of a slot machine paying off than aspirin therapy.
Now lots of docs will tell you that popping an aspirin is worth doing if it gives you any cancer protection. But that’s just wrong, wrong, and wrong.
The fact is, taking aspirin every day isn’t safe at all. And it could put you in serious danger for a deadly stomach bleed or a hemorrhagic stroke.
Several years ago, Italian researchers looked at the records of over 300,000 hospital patients and found that aspirin can up your chance of hemorrhaging by a giant 55 percent. The real wonder here is how this drug can still be sold over the counter, and in mega-size bottles no less!
And that’s what makes studies such as Dr. Chan’s latest one so dangerous.
How many people will read those glowing headlines about preventing cancer and start self-medicating, thinking that the science is settled where aspirin is concerned?
But the only thing that’s really settled is just how risky constant exposure to aspirin can be.
Despite the fact that you can buy it at practically any store — even gas stations — aspirin is a powerful drug with dangerous side effects.
Aside from causing bleeding and ulcers, aspirin can increase your risk of hearing loss, cataracts, macular degeneration, and kidney failure.
And lots of people who end up taking aspirin to prevent cancer are going to learn the hard way that it’s no miracle in a bottle.
It’s more like a pig in a poke.
Sources:
“Aspirin found to reduce overall cancer risk” Harvard Gazette, March 3, 2016, news.harvard.edu
