According to a Dutch study published in the scientific journal Heart, theaspirin taken regularly would be beneficial to women over 65, as it decreases the risk ofinfarction, stroke and cancer.
For younger women on the other hand (45-65 years), taking aspirin is not recommended, because it causes significant side effects (intestinal bleeding) which outweigh the benefits of the drug, specifies the research team.
The study was carried out on nearly 30,000 healthy participants, aged 45 or more. At random, the women were divided into two groups: one taking 100 mg of aspirin every day, the other taking placebo, without being informed beforehand. Their risk of heart attack, stroke and cancer was then assessed.
During clinical trials which lasted 10 years, 604 cases of cardiovascular disease, 168 cases of bowel cancer, 302 major bleeding in the bowel and 1,832 other types of cancer were diagnosed. And over the next seven years, 107 cases of bowel cancer and 1388 cases of other cancers were added to the list. In all, 4,401 people (about 15% of the original sample) were affected by these diseases.
From 65 years old, but especially not before
Compared to placebo, treatment with aspirin was still beneficial in terms of heart risk, stroke risk and Cancer bowel, in women 65 years of age and over.
Because if the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding increases with age (and with the intake of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, specify the researchers), the benefits of aspirin also increase, the benefit / risk balance being the most favorable when the woman is over 65 years old. In their sample, the researchers calculated that 29 women over the age of 65 would require aspirin treatment to prevent the risk of cancer andStroke.
“Recent results, stipulating that taking aspirin twice a day would reduce the risk of cancer, have revived the debate on aspirin as a primary preventive treatment, the researchers note, before concluding that the generalized treatment was” ineffective or harmful in the majority of women. “
65 would therefore be the “turning point”, when it becomes more beneficial to take aspirin than not to take it, whereas it is totally the opposite before this age limit.
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