According to one of the studies completed after a few decades, women taking low to moderate doses of aspirin each day had a decreased rate of death, particularly caused by heart disease.
The study based on data gathered from a main trial that has tracked nearly 80 000 women since 1976. The researchers discovered that women who reported using aspirin regularly had a 25 per cent reduced risk of death of any cause than women who didn’t take this medication.
The risk of death caused by cardiovascular disease was 38 per cent lower for the users of aspirin. Moreover, the investigators discovered in their report based on the Nurses’ Health Study that there was a 12 per cent decrease in cancer deaths that took effect after ten years of aspirin use.
These findings were published in the March 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Far from definitive
Nevertheless, an accompanying editorial in the journal warned that the findings were open to debate and far from ultimate.
The dissenting editorial, prepared by Dr John A. Baron of Dartmouth Medical School, was based mainly on results of another trial, the Women’s Health Study, that followed nearly forty thousand women for eleven years and discovered no decrease in overall deaths or cardiovascular mortality connected with aspirin therapy.
Hence, Baron explained that the new conclusions "can’t overcome the accumulated evidence that aspirin is not specifically successful for the principal prevention of death caused by cardiovascular disease in women."
"This is a very complicated subject," said Dr Andrew T. Chan, an assistant professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, and the lead author of the new report. "We understand that aspirin reveals potential health benefits, however who would aspirin therapy be proper for?"
There are "areas of disagreement that require further examination" before that question can be answered, Chan explained. However, there is some information from the two huge studies and other experiments that can help direct women and their healthcare providers, he added.
Only when there’s a heart risk
For starters, some research indicates that aspirin reveals benefits for older women and those who have cardiovascular risk factors including: high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity, Chan explained. "Our research and the Women’s Health Study do indicate that there is a potential role of aspirin for women who experience subclinical cardiovascular disease," he noted.
That statement fits with prevention guidelines presented in 2004 by the American Heart Association. The guidelines advise aspirin for women at great risk of heart disease or who already suffer from cardiovascular disease, however these guidelines don’t apply to women at low risk for the disease. For women at intermediate risk, aspirin may be considered if blood pressure is constantly under control of a healthcare provider and the benefits are thought to be more important than risks, like gastrointestinal bleeding, for instance.
However, the decision about taking aspirin, or any other medicine, should not be made by the patient alone, Chan warned.
Consult your healthcare provider
"I tell women that, at this point, the decision calls for consultation with a healthcare provider," he added. "Taking aspirin can bring some side effects, therefore it is something that must be individualized. It would be very naive and irresponsible to recommend that treatment for all women across the board."
The latest research involved information concerning 29 000 partakers in the Nurses’ Health research who took between 1 and 14 standard 325-milligram aspirin pills each week and 5002 women who took over fourteen pills a week.
The decrease in cancer risk that became apparent after ten years was an intriguing finding, Chan noted. The Women’s Health Study discovered no such decrease over a period of ten years, he informed.
"One significant message is that the research indicates the mechanisms at play for cardiovascular disease and cancer are potentially widespread," Chan said. "This constitutes further grounds for the study into these mechanisms."
Aspirin connected with longer life
Dr Jeffrey Berger, a cardiology fellow at Duke University who has carried out correlated study, explained that the new report describes "another very large research that proves that individuals who take aspirin live longer. You can’t argue with that. We are not able to prove cause-and-effect, however we can say that when you take aspirin, there is a decrease in overall deaths."
It is essential to remember that aspirin provides benefits for both men and women, Berger added. "How it benefits men, how it benefits women, that is a significant issue at this time," he added.
And anyone who is thinking about taking aspirin on an every day basis "should really consult his/her healthcare provider about the benefits and risks," Berger said.
