Regular aspirin use may significantly reduce the incidence of both cancer and heart disease, according to a large new study, but other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or Nsaids, have no effect.

Researchers studied 22,507 postmenopausal women, following them for 10 years. All reported their aspirin and Nsaid use as part of a detailed physical and behavioral health questionnaire. None of the women had cancer or heart disease at the start of the study.

Image Credit... Stuart Goldenberg

After controlling for age, exercise, diet and other factors, those who used aspirin had a 16 percent reduced risk of getting cancer, and a 13 percent reduced risk of cancer death, compared with women who never used it. Aspirin use was also associated with a 25 percent reduced risk of dying from coronary artery disease and an 18 percent reduction in all-cause mortality compared with those who never took aspirin. But use of other Nsaids like ibuprofen (Advil and other brands) and naproxen (Aleve and others) had no effect, and there was no significantly reduced risk among aspirin users who were currently smoking. The study was published in the June issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.