Painkillers may cut your risk of breast cancer

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According to the latest research, taking painkillers such as aspirin or ibuprofen regularly could cut your risk of breast cancer by a fifth. So should we really be popping painkillers regularly?

New research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed that drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen (known as NSAIDs) cut your risk of getting breast cancer.

Aspirin can reduce the risk by 13% and ibuprofen by a whopping 21%. The study of 2.7 million cases showed that this is because they affect how blood vessels can potentially feed tumours.

However, although Cancer Research UK is positive about the research, it also warns about the dangers of taking painkillers too often.

Sarah Rawlings at Breakthrough Breast Cancer added: 'Anti-inflammatory drugs can have potentially very serious side-effects when taken over a long period.'

Some side effects of taking painkillers regularly are stomach ulcers, increased risk of stroke, asthma, heart, liver and kidney problems.

The jury is out and there will be results of an even bigger trial available next year which will hopefully give a better idea of what's safe to take and how often.