Aspirin not a cure-all for colon cancer
Q: You recently wrote about having screening for colon cancer, but you didn’t note if taking aspirin each day reduces the chances on getting colon cancer. Does it? A: You may be referring to the results of seven-year study led by Dartmouth Medical School researchers that showed a daily dose of aspirin can be effective in reducing the risk of colon adenomas – benign tumors that can develop into cancer if left in the bowel.
The study, conducted jointly by doctors and researchers from Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., and at several other institutions across North America, confirms indications from nonrandomized studies that low-dose aspirin might protect against cancers of the colon and rectum. The final results of the study were published in the March 6 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. John Baron was lead author of the article, and co-author of another report in the NEJM that also found that aspirin protected against adenomas of the colon and rectum. He noted that the findings of the two studies show that low doses of aspirin do protect against the pre-cancerous polyps, and so there is good reason to believe aspirin probably reduces rates of colorectal cancer itself. This will be particularly valuable for people who are at increased risk for cancer because they have had colon adenomas (polyps) or because they have previously been treated for colorectal cancer.
Although aspirin is generally a safe drug, Baron noted that it can have adverse effects for some individuals. Before people embark on a daily aspirin regimen, they should check with their doctor, he said. And, he stressed that just taking aspirin is not enough to assure freedom from colon cancer.
“Aspirin is not a magic bullet,” Baron said. “Although the incidence was reduced, all the polyps didn’t go away in our study. Regular screenings, perhaps including colonoscopies, are still important.”
Q: A friend swears by the high-protein diet she recently started in order to lose weight. She says she lost 15 pounds on it, but I wonder if eating so much high protein is healthy?
A: A large number of consumers report losing weight on high-protein diets, such as the Atkins Diet, receive large amounts of positive and negative press coverage.
While dieters might lose weight, a large body of research suggests meat-heavy diets put people at risk for osteoporosis, kidney disease and maybe even colon cancer.
“For weight loss, studies show that high-protein diets do not work any better than other diets, but they do lead to a quick loss of calcium and, very likely, an increased risk for colon cancer,” said Neal D. Barnard, M.D., president and founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine, especially good nutrition. A study recently published in American Journal of Kidney Diseases shows that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets cause a rapid and pronounced loss of calcium in the urine, while studies of vegetarian diets have shown safe, effective weight loss.
Groundbreaking studies published in Lancet (1990) and Journal of the American Medical Association (1998) show that a low-fat vegetarian diet can reverse heart disease. Each year, there is additional scientific evidence that a diet rich in fruit and vegetables is best in terms of long-term health.
(Send your questions to Steve Infanti, A Fit Life columnist, at Wheeling Jesuit University, sinfanti@nttc.edu.)