How aspirin could help women fight asthma

By JENNY HOPE
Taking a low dose of aspirin every other day could ward off asthma for women, say researchers.
A study found that a group of older women taking aspirin regularly developed 10 per cent fewer new cases than expected.
It is the latest in a string of discoveries of beneficial effects from the drug, which has been shown to cut the risk of heart attacks, stroke, some cancers and dementia.
More than five million Britons suffer from asthma, which claims 1,400 lives a year here.
The American study, detailed in the medical journal Thorax, was based on monitoring the health of 40,000 women of 45 and over.
They were randomly assigned to take either 100mg of aspirin every other day or a placebo.
In the group taking aspirin 872 new cases were diagnosed compared with 963 among those taking a placebo.
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The effect persisted even after taking account of factors such as age and smoking, although aspirin did not lessen the risk in obese women.
Study leader Dr Tobias Kurth, from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Massachusetts, said the biological mechanism involved was unknown and further trials were necessary.
The team warned that existing asthma patients would not benefit.
Previous research in male doctors found aspirin cut the risk of asthma by 22 per cent.
For all its benefits, aspirin can have side effects ranging from dizziness to stomach pain and bleeding.
Some people are hypersensitive to it and cannot tolerate even small amounts.
It may also be unsuitable for people with uncontrolled high blood pressure, liver or kidney disease, peptic ulcer or conditions that may cause internal bleeding.