A recent study has suggested that a daily dose of Asprin can help to reduce the risk of a patient dying from bowel cancer.

The study involved 4,500 bowel cancer patients who were taking a daily dose of up to 80mg Asprin. The results showed that the risk of dying from bowel cancer was reduced by 23% when taking Asprin for any length of time after being diagnosed.

For patients who took Asprin for over 9 months, the risk was reduced by 30%.

Asprin is usually taken for treating heart disease and most of the patients involved in the study were already taking it. However, those who weren’t showed that by taking a dose after being diagnosed, their risk of death was reduced by 12%.

The researchers are keen to point out that Asprin should not be seen as an alternative to usual cancer treatments.

Other studies have previously suggested Asprin can help prevent and treat certain cancers, but experts warn that there are some risks and side affects from taking Asprin and say that it is too early to recommend it to help treat bowel cancer. Bowel cancer particularly affects older people and the researchers are calling for more research to see confirm if Asprin can help.

A spokesperson for Cancer Research UK said: “There are still questions we need to answer about the side effects, such as internal bleeding, who might benefit most from taking aspirin, who might be harmed, what dose and how long people some people might want to take it for.”