Aspirin, originally used as a painkiller and to combat fever, has other, perhaps more useful, uses. Daily low doses of the drug have been known to help prevent coronary heart disease, as it interferes with the clotting action. A series of papers in the lancet have also now found that aspirin can prevent the spread of cancer and after five years of taking cancer there was a 30-40% reduction in deaths from cancer.
But it is not an easy solution to all of these problems and it would be unwise to introduce a blanket scheme for example for everyone over the age of 45 because of the risks of serious excessive bleeding, especially gastrointestinal which can even cause death. It is also not as effective as Statins in CHD prevention and is no more effective than paracetamol in pain reduction.
Because of this I believe aspirin should be recommended to those in the risk categories for cancer and CHD but only on prescription or after advice from the chemist. This is because the risk of internal bleeding is so severe and after the recent headlines for the benefits of aspirin may cause a surge of people who shouldn't take aspirin putting themselves in danger instead of helping themselves stay in health.
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