Just in time for warmer weather! A new study has found that taking aspirin daily reduced women’s risk of melanoma by more than 20%. The longer they’d been taking aspirin, the less likely they were to develop melanomas in old age.
This is just the latest in a long line of studies that show a probable correlation between aspirin’s anti-inflammatory effects and a decreased risk of cancer, be it melanoma, colon, or otherwise.
If you don’t like the idea of taking aspirin daily, just make note that it is helpful after a sunburn (the sooner you take it after you get too much sun, the more it can help). Of course, aspirin also has other effects, so you should always talk to your doctor and pharmacist about whether it’s safe or advisable for you to be on an aspirin regimen.
And before summer starts, do a mole check. It’s best if you have a dermatologist do it, but if you do it yourself, follow these steps:
1) Pick one of the many excellent online visual guides to different types of melanomas. Make sure you check your back, feet, and genital areas too, since those areas are most likely to get missed and develop into more serious cancers.
2) Anything that could be malignant or that your aren’t sure about, take to a dermatologist. Anything odd that could become malignant, take a picture and include something to indicate its relative size in the picture.
3) At the end of summer, do another mole check. Compare your pictures to the moles, and see a doctor about any changes in size, color, etc. you notice.
If you don’t want to take aspirin, make sure to include lots of other antioxidants in your diet—berries, tea and chocolate, etc.
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