(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- People who take aspirin regularly for a year or
more may be at increased risk of developing Crohn's disease.
Crohn's disease, which affects approximately 60,000 people in the U.K. and
500,000 people in the U.S., is characterized by inflammation and swelling of any
part of the digestive system. Symptoms can be debilitating and patients must
take life-long medication. Some patients need surgery and some sufferers have an
increased risk of bowel cancer.
Though there are likely to be many causes of the disease, previous work on
tissue samples has shown that aspirin can have a harmful effect on the bowel.
Led by Dr Andrew Hart of University of East Anglia (UEA) School of Medicine, the
UEA team followed 200,000 volunteers aged 30-74 in the UK, Sweden, Denmark,
Germany and Italy. The volunteers were recruited for the EPIC study (European
Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) between 1993 and 1997.
The volunteers were all initially well, but by 2004 a small number had developed
Crohn's disease. When looking for differences in aspirin use between those who
did and did not develop the disease, the researchers discovered that those
taking aspirin regularly for a year or more were around five times more likely
to develop Crohn's disease.
The study also showed that aspirin use had no effect on the risk of developing
ulcerative colitis -- a condition similar to Crohn's disease.
"This is early work but our findings do suggest that the regular use of aspirin
could be one of many factors which influences the development of this
distressing disease in some patients," Dr. Hart was quoted as saying.
"Aspirin does have many beneficial effects, however, including helping to
prevent heart attacks and strokes," Dr. Hart added. "I would urge aspirin users
to continue taking this medication since the risk of aspirin users possibly
developing Crohn's disease remains very low -- only one in every 2000 users, and
the link is not yet finally proved."
Further work must now be done in other populations to establish whether there is
a definite link and to check that aspirin use is not just a marker of another
risk factor, which is the real cause of Crohn's disease. The UEA team will also
continue its wider research into other potential factors in the development of
Crohn's disease, including diet.
SOURCE: Presented at the Digestive Disease Week conference, New Orleans, May
3, 2010
