Aspirin Helps Prevent Adult Onset Asthma

The Wonder Drug of the Nineteenth century derived from the bark of a Willow tree continues to amaze modern science. In addition to the many household uses of aspirin, many people take it as part of a daily regimen to prevent future heart attacks. A recent study to conducted to determine whether or not aspirin did lower the chances of a person developing a heart attack found an additional surprising result. Adults taken aspirin who did not develop the disease were twenty-two percent less likely to have their doctors diagnosis them with the condition typically associated with allergic reactions.

Asthma is a chronic condition that can cause a person's bronchial tubes to become inflamed and restrict the air flow. The reason aspirin might prohibit the onset of the disease among adults is because of the drug's anti-inflammatory action. During an asthma attack, the breathing tubes constrict reducing the flow of air through the respiratory system.

The doctors who conducted the study warned that the drug will not guard against an asthma attack in patients who already have the condition. Aspirin is capable of causing a bronchospasm and bringing on an attack.

Because aspirin can cause other conditions such as ulcers, taking aspirin to prevent the adult onset asthma may not be a practical solution. Professor Ian Hall of Nottingham University estimated that if one thousand people took the drug, it would prevent three people from needing an inhaler, and childhood asthma, which has a different cause, would only be aggravated for the reasons mentioned above.

The findings about the reduction in asthma attacks were almost accidental and further studies will need to be conducted to figure out new ways to prevent asthma symptoms from developing in adults and the study itself provides insight as to what might cause the condition to arise. If indeed, it is the anti-inflammatory action of the drug that prevents adults from developing the condition, aspirin itself may not be necessary and other drugs or natural foods with the same effects such as tumeric could be used in its place. A way to prevent the disease in adults will be nice, but people who get the disease in childhood and those who already have it will have to rely on medications already on the market to keep open the passageways to their lungs.

Sources:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Asthma/Asthma_WhatIs.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6252887.stm