Ahhhh, the humble acetylsalicylic acid, found in tree bark, later refined into aspirin, and dumped as a painkiller for more advanced acetominophen and ibuprofen.
And, it turns out, it might also be an effective cancer treatment. Like, you should be taking it if you’re worried about cancer, or if you already have cancer, and not because it might make you feel a little better.
Oxford University researchers have found some pretty surprising facts about aspirin and cancer. Rothwell had middle-aged study participants take it for three years, and that group dropped their chances of getting cancer by a quarter. Meanwhile, in patients already suffering from cancer, the longer you took it, the more your chances of dying from cancer dropped: 37% over five years, in fact. It also dropped the spread of cancer to other organs by half.
Admittedly, aspirin can attack gut cells, but so what? Your alternative is taking incredibly toxic chemicals and getting blasted with radiation. Of your options, aspirin seems like a pretty good deal.
image courtesy Wikimedia Commons