Health
Aspirin reduces risk of adult asthma
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 29, 2007
Taking 325 mg of aspirin every other day cuts the chance of developing asthma as an adult by 22%, according to a study published in the Jan. 15 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Researchers with Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston analyzed data from the Physicians' Health Study, which involved more than 22,000 doctors in a nearly five-year period and focused on heart health.
Participants also were asked about asthma during the course of the study, although this was not the project's main focus.
Among subjects who did not already have a diagnosis of this respiratory ailment, 113 taking aspirin and 145 taking placebo developed it.
The authors stress that this does not mean that aspirin reduces asthma symptoms, but that additional randomized trials are needed to answer whether it can truly reduce the incidence of this condition.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/01/29/hlbf0129.htm.
