Daily aspirin and omega 3 pill could ‘slash risk of bowel cancer’
Everyday drugs like aspirin have been found to reduce the number of precancerous growths in the large bowel
EVERYDAY medications and supplements like aspirin and omega-3 fatty acids may help protect against bowel cancer, a new study suggests.
As bowel cancer is currently the second most deadly form of the disease, it's a discovery which could potentially help to save thousands.
Scientists from the universities of Leeds, Nottingham, Bradford and Newcastle have been conducting a new clinical trial looking at whether widely available drugs can reduce the number of precancerous growths in at-risk people.
Bowel cancer develops from polyps, or abnormal growths on the tissue within the colon.
Doctors can identify these precancerous polyps via colonoscopies that allow them to have a look around for any abnormalities. While most polyps are benign, some can lead to cancerous tumours.
For the study (which was called the seAFOod Trial), researchers from the universities recruited 709 participants from 53 hospitals across England - all of whom were at a high risk of colon cancer.
They were then split into four groups.
One group was given aspirin only (300mg every day for a year), the second group had omega-3 fatty acids only (2g every day for a year), the third group got given a combination of the two and the fourth group just had a placebo.
The omega-3 dosage was higher than you'd find in regular supplements.
Participants who took aspirin for a year had 22 per cent fewer polyps overall — including on the right side of the large bowel, which is more difficult to monitor through colonoscopy — than those who took a placebo.
Symptoms of bowel cancer
Bowel is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with almost 42,000 people being diagnosed a year in the UK.
Nearly everyone survives it if it's caught at its earliest stage but the fact that it's the second most deadly disease suggest that loads of people aren't diagnosed in time.
The Sun's No Time 2 Lose campaign called for the Government to lower the bowel cancer screening age from 60 to 50 and they listened.
In August the revealed they will start screening from 50 but due to NHS staff shortages, that change is set to be delayed - putting lives at risk.
So we need to be super vigilant about any changes in our toilet habits and go to the doctor as soon as you notice any changes.
There's also been a rise in the number of younger people developing bowel cancer in recent years, for whom no routine screening is available.
It's understandable to be embarrassed about talking about poo but doing so could save your life. Remember, your GP has heard it all before!
Symptoms include:
- bleeding from your bottom
- blood in your poo
- persistent and unexplained change in bowel habit
- unexplained weight loss
- extreme tiredness
- pain or lump in tummy
Those who took the omega-3 had 9 per cent fewer than the placebo group.
But, interestingly enough, the omega-3 group also had 25 per cent fewer ployps on the left side of the large bowel.
"The seAFOod Trial demonstrates that both aspirin and EPA have preventative effects, which is particularly exciting given that they are both relatively cheap and safe compounds to give to patients," said the study's lead author, Prof. Mark Hull, from the University of Leeds.
"Given this new evidence, clinicians need to consider these agents for patients at elevated risk of bowel cancer, alongside regular colonoscopy surveillance."
The experts are now aiming to conduct further research into the role that aspirin and omega-3 might play in lowering cancer risk.
It could be pretty huge, considering that so bowel cancer is so notoriously difficult to pick up early on.
MORE ON BOWEL CANCER
The problem is that so few people manage to catch the disease in time to do anything about it.
Earlier this year, The Sun launched the No Time 2 Lose campaign, urging to get you all talking about your insides and your number 2s, in a bid to beat bowel cancer - the 2nd deadliest form of the disease in the UK.
The disease claims 16,000 lives a year and we've been trying to get the screening age lowered in a bid to identify more cases before its too late.
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