The death of a loved one recently drove me to repine for not having chosen to go to medical school. Even if I had, however, I doubt there would have been anything for me to do, considering the limits of cancer therapies. Fortunately, developments in medicine have brought us closer to a possible preventative substance, as found in aspirin cancer prevention possibilities.
The substance taken regularly for pain relief is currently being studied for its preventive abilities regarding cancer cells. The medical world is ecstatic that a common over-the-counter drug could actually fight one of the deadliest diseases known to man. Had this only been common knowledge at the time that we discovered my dad's illness, we might have spared him some of the pain.
Even so, I have to admit that there is little hope even then: aspirin is shown to reduce the chances of cancer, not heal it. The group that took aspirin regularly and in small doses was found to have lower cancer occurrences. The drug has been seen to produce results too in retarding metastatic development in those already suffering from the disease.
The many sub-types of the ailment apparently have varying reactions to the drug. Prevention was more effective in certain cancers, such as colon cancer. Colon cancer was what slew my father's body.
Meanwhile, a research study led by Oxford professor Dr. Peter M. Rothwell observed that the risk of esophageal cancer was reduced by a staggering 75% and of the common colorectal cancer by 40-50%. The studies tell us that it is not too late for people to truly begin to think of this medicine as one that could help us avoid cancer. The rising numbers of endorsers aside, you want to watch how much of it you take in.
Just about all medicaments have bad side-effects when their consumption is not regulated. Internal bleeding may be a consequence of overdoing your aspirin consumption, for instance. The lethal nature of these potential overdose results should warn you not to take too much of the drug.
A lot of doctors are still reserving opinions about aspirin as a regularly-taken preventive measure. A number of researchers in US have claimed that they could discover no indication that aspirin really could bring down your chances of getting cancer. Since these studies did not administer aspirin every day to the subjects, however, they are considered suspect.
There are concerns about even the Oxford research, however: after all, it was initially intended to see if aspirin could be helpful in preventing cardiac problems. Patients with cardiovascular problems in North America are often told to take baby aspirin. People say this could not help with cancer.
While there will always be naysayers to anything good, there are those who stay in the middle but remain hopeful; a number of experts excitedly argue that the new findings are “provocative” and “encouraging”. There are people like the CMO of the American Cancer Society, who has indicated his belief that the researchers could be coming close to something very useful, yet has not indicated support for aspirin as a preventive drug at the moment. Also, a medical expert from Harvard believes that the findings “raise the level of excitement about using aspirin as a chemopreventive agent”.
Not being a physician, I am unable to compare my comprehension of the subject to that of the scientists. This does not change the fact of my loss, and the fact that I am hopeful about the experts being able to find ways to save others from cancer. It is hoped that the people studying aspirin cancer prevention right now shall be able to help with that.
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