Guest Blogger: Benjamin Hyatt, MD, UMass Memorial Medical Center, Division of Gastroenterology
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, so it’s time to discuss an uncomfortable topic: colon health. Let’s start with the bad news: Colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer in the United States. But here’s some good news: it’s most often preventable.
While an apple a day may keep the doctor away, it’s aspirin that may really protect your health: New research shows that an aspirin a day may help lower the risk of colon cancer.
Aspirin has long been credited with helping reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and now, evidence (National Cancer Institute) suggests that taking a low-dose aspirin every day for five years or more may cut the risk of colon cancer by up to 35 percent among people who are at high risk.
