Da Kine Star-Bulletin staff and wire services

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PREVENTION

Daily dose of aspirin aids prostate

Taking aspirin every day may lower the risk for prostate enlargement, a new study has found. Other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like naproxen (Aleve) or ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin), have the same effect. "At least half the patients I see are taking a daily aspirin for other health reasons," said Dr. Michael M. Lieber, an author of the study and a Mayo Clinic urologist. "So this is a possible fringe benefit."

Researchers studied 2,447 men over 12 years, examining them every other year. After adjusting for age, diabetes, hypertension and other factors, men who took a daily aspirin or another Nsaid reduced their risk of moderate or severe urinary symptoms by 27 percent, and their risk of an enlarged prostate by 49 percent. Moreover, they had a 48 percent reduced risk of having an elevated level of prostate-specific antigen, the protein measured in a blood test for prostate cancer.