For as long as I can remember, one of the ways to avoid heart attacks has been to take aspirin on a daily basis. The benefits of taking aspirin both to avoid heart attacks and to avoid colon cancer are now up for debate.
In The Cheerful Oncologist, the author posts the following articles:
From the Boston Globe, “A baby aspirin a day is healthy; but more than that can be dangerous”
From All Headline News, “High doses of aspirin may reduce colon cancer risk”
In these articles, it is stated both that taking more than 81mg of aspirin a day will increase your risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. BUT, in order to prevent colon cancer you should take higher doses of aspirin. With conflicting information like these, how do you know what to do?
This is an issue to think about. As always, consult your doctor to determine what is right for you but be informed when starting a new drug or health regimen. Ask questions and do your own research of benefits and risks. Doctors are specialized in medicine but they cannot always know all of the answers for everything. You may be able to ask a question or bring up a point that would help your doctor treat you the best that he/she can.
In addition, you can view information on the benefits and risks of aspirin therapy on WebMD at http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/aspirin-therapy