Taking ibuprofen regularly ‘lowers a smoker’s risk of dying from lung cancer by 48%’
THE over-the-counter painkiller ibuprofen could help reduce a smoker's risk of lung cancer, experts claim.
Regularly taking the drug helps to combat inflammation that is known to trigger the deadly disease - cutting risk by up to 48 per cent.
Boffins have established that chronic inflammation increases the risk of lung cancer.
Therefore, drugs that reduce that inflammation should reduce the risk.
However, few studies have focused on links between the disease and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen.
To test the theory, a team of experts from The Ohio State University, examined the medical records of 10,735 people, spanning the period 1988 to 1994.
They compared this to death records from 2006, to establish cause of deaths.
Over the 18 year period, 269 people died from lung cancer - of which 252 people or 93.6 per cent had been smokers.
The researchers found that people who had smoked in the past, or currently did smoke and also took ibuprofen on a regular basis, were much less likely to die from lung cancer.
The link was substantial, equating to a 48 per cent reduction in the risk of early death from the disease for smokers taking the painkiller.
These results suggest that regular use of certain non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs may be beneficial for high-risk subgroups of smokers as a lung cancer prevention strategy
Dr Marissa Bittoni
But, the findings failed to show the same link for those smokers taking aspirin and paracetamol.
Dr Marisa Bittoni, who led the study, said: "These results suggest that regular use of certain non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs may be beneficial for high-risk subgroups of smokers as a lung cancer prevention strategy."
The findings were presented at The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's World Conference in Vienna today.
But, experts have warned the pills, which are used to treat ailments such as headaches, period pains, sprains, colds and flu, are not harmless.
The new study comes three months after scientists warned the painkiller used by millions can double the risk of ending up in hospital with heart failure.
Researchers, who scoured the medical records of ten million people, found non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs raise the risk of being admitted for heart failure by an average of 19 per cent.
Meanwhile, high doses of diclofenac doubled the chances of being rushed to hospital, while even taking over-the-counter painkillers, like ibuprofen raised risk by 18 per cent.
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