ASPIRIN - is it the third magic pill to prevent breast cancer?

Last night at supper, a family member mentioned a person he follows on Twitter.  That man has been a proponent of aspirin for preventing cancer and bemoans the slow pace of the medical world to agree.  I looked him up on the web - he mentions having degrees in biology and microbiology, but is not practicing in that field.

I dug around on a few sites after supper, and found little.  I tried Forbes, thinking they would be likely to give references to well-controlled studies.  And of course, I am interested mainly in breast cancer. Their 2013 article led me to the Scottish study mentioned below, and also mentioned 2012 studies from The Lancet.  Excitement, but not many specifics.

A Scottish study was mentioned in two articles indicating results that aspirin helped to prevent breast cancer.  However, one article also mentioned that an American study got the opposite results.

Much reportage I found seemed to have inconsistencies that were not backed up by specific study results.  In one report, aspirin was discussed as a help with colorectal cancer.  Another article specifically stated that most good results for aspirin with colon cancer seemed to occur in the rising and transverse colon - the opposite side of the colon.

Almost every study report mentioned the ongoing danger of internal bleeding.  Cancer Research UK was not helpful, no statistics in their aspirin-nsaid (ibuprofen,etc) mention. They did say you must not take aspirin for prevention if you have ever had an ulcer.

If I do more research, I'm going to stick with my tried and true formula:

Remember we have known for decades that aspirin can cause stomach bleeding.

Ignore opinions that say "studies show."  Get the study name and the qualifications of the researchers, and any info on the study design for accuracy. And who paid for it!

Pay more attention to established top medical journals than to popular articles (even mine).

Get a second opinion.  Maybe a third.   Doctors are not always right.  Not even on tv.  Especially on tv.

Don't base decisions on reports given at conferences.  Find out what gets printed in a peer-reviewed medical  journal.

LUMPECTOMY FOR BEGINNERS - Post - surgery followup and a Rant

This afternoon, the surgeon.  My incision looks as good to me as before radiation.  We'll see what the doctor says. I wanted to see the medical oncologist before today, but it didn't work out. Time seems to slip through my fingers since the lumpectomy.

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Now for the Rant:  Last night I read the Yahoo news blog on the World Health Organization report that cancer will have a huge upsurge worldwide in the next two decades.

The blog said nothing about what the WHO bases this prediction on. 

 Diet, exercise, and early detection were mentioned as possible prevention for half of us.   Alcohol and tobacco were mentioned as causes.  But tobacco use has widely declined here.  Will we all start eating more fast junk, sit more than we already do with our horrendous commutes? 

Nothing about the environment!  Not a word about carcinogens around us and in our food and our sunscreens and, and, and.    

There was a photo of a cancer patient resting.  He didn't look as if too much red meat and too many martinis were his lifestyle.  Much of the world does not get a lot of fast food, alcohol, lengthy commutes, and lolling in front of tv.  Their air is not full of vehicle exhaust.  What gives them cancer?

My main Rant? Calling early detection "prevention" always makes  me furious!  We can detect a polyp and prevent some cancers. But detecting cancer means you've got it!    

Early detection of breast cancer in situ doesn't prevent cancer. It finds unhealthy cells.  We may need surgery and perhaps radiation to get what is detected. We hope that's all of it. If not, we hope our own immune systems will kill some rogue cells. We may take preventive medicine for years, enduring the side effects. And we wait.  

Some of us do believe that exercise and good eating habits help keep cancer away or keep it from showing up again.  Dr. Salwitz believes in exercise, and I believe him.  

Some of us, like me, believe the science published in books like The Immune Power Personality, and we work on our minds and behavior to help keep us healthy.

But some of us want to know what our governments are going to do about environmental causes.  Some take action with petitions and letters about pollution.  Obviously, that's not enough!