Aspirin Can Lower Skin Health Risks

Aspirin has long been known to provide a number of health benefits — from pain relief to heart attack prevention. Now, in a new study from Stanford University of nearly 60,000 women ages 50-79, researchers found that there was a lower risk of melanoma than those who did not take aspirin.

Researchers are careful to point out that this result doesn’t prove aspirin is directly responsible for lowering the risk of this potentially deadly form of skin cancer. But they do believe inflammation plays a big role in cancer development and aspirin is an anti-inflammatory drug. Earlier studies support the idea that aspirin may help prevent other kinds of cancer.

Based on this latest study, women who took aspirin had a 21 percent lower risk of melanoma. The longer women had taken aspirin, the more protection they had. At one year, they cut their risk by 11 percent, between one and four years their risk dropped by 22 percent and after five years of aspirin use, their risk dropped by 30 percent. The results do not appear to be different between age groups and whether women had lighter or darker skin.

Aspirin use is not for everyone and you should discuss your options with your physician prior to initiating aspirin therapy..

Mary Hurley, M.D.

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