Ode to a little white pill

Women, want to live longer? Forget supplements or the latest fad diet. Take an aspirin.

A newly published study in the Archives of Internal Medicine touts the profound health benefits of women taking moderate doses of aspirin. Study authors caution, however, that the results do not indicate that all women should take it.

But among women who took no more than moderate doses of aspirin, the benefits increased with age and among those with cardiac risk factors. Women who took one to 14 aspirin a week reduced their risk of dying from heart disease by 38 percent and curbed their risk of dying from all causes by 25 percent, the study found.

The cardiac benefits of men taking daily low-dose aspirin are well documented in medical research. This large scale study now confirms substantial health benefits for women, too. Researchers reviewed 24 years of data from nearly 79,500 nurses enrolled in the Nurses Health Study. At the beginning of the study, the women had no history of cardiovascular disease.

This does not suggest that women who are not using aspirin therapy should run out and buy giant-sized bottles from the warehouse store. They should consult their physicians to ensure using aspirin is an appropriate therapy. People 60 years of age and older are especially sensitive to the effects of aspirin, according to the Mayo Clinic Web site. Children should not be given aspirin because of the risk that it may cause Reye's syndrome. This rare but serious illness can affect the blood, livers and brains of children and teenagers recovering from viral infections, especially flu or chickenpox, according to Mayo Clinic.

But for those for whom daily aspirin therapy is medically appropriate, this tried-and-true medication holds promising benefits. Not bad for an inexpensive and readily available medicine that dates back to 1897, when a Bayer chemist first synthesized acetylsalicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin. Ancient people likely discovered the health benefits of salicylic acid, which occurs naturally in the inner bark of white willow trees, which are found in North America, Europe and Asia. Who knew, centuries later, that this substance would still be working wonders?