Aspirin remains one of the most inexpensive drugs in the pharmacy. A familiar brand-name tablet costs less than 6 cents a pill. A bottle containing 300 tablets will set you back under $17. Despite the low price, the value of aspirin might be priceless.

Native healers have been using the salicylates found in willow bark for thousands of years. Hippocrates, often described as the father of modern medicine, wrote about a powder from willow to control a fever and relieve pain.

A chemist for the Bayer Company synthesized aspirin in 1897. Perhaps because it is so old, so familiar and so inexpensive, it rarely gets the respect it deserves.

One of aspirin’s most intriguing properties is its anti-cancer activity. A Swedish research study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Sept. 18, 2025) concludes that aspirin can dramatically reduce the likelihood of colo-rectal cancer recurrence in selected patients.

This was a gold-standard randomized controlled trial. Patients who had their tumors removed received either 160 milligrams of aspirin (half a standard tablet) or placebo. They were followed for three years. These cancer patients had a common gene mutation called PIK3CA. There was a 7.7% recurrence rate in the aspirin takers compared to a 14% return in the people on placebo. That is a relative risk reduction of 50%.

This is hardly the first time we have heard that aspirin can be helpful against colorectal cancer. A study also published in the New England Journal of Medicine 34 years ago concluded: “Regular aspirin use at low doses may reduce the risk of fatal colon cancer.”

A systematic review published in the journal Public Health (Aug. 25, 2025) concluded: “This meta-analysis of over 260 studies involving more than 78 million individuals found a consistent association between regular aspirin use and a lower risk of cancer incidence and mortality. Specifically, a 19% relative reduction was observed in both cancer-specific mortality and incidence. The effect was most pronounced in gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies-particularly colorectal, liver, and upper GI tract cancers.”

Aspirin has other potential benefits. Although it is no longer recommended routinely to prevent heart attacks in otherwise healthy people, there is evidence that it can be helpful for those at high risk. That would include people who have had a heart attack.

Doctors have also known for decades that aspirin can be helpful against pre-eclampsia. This is a dangerous complication during pregnancy that can cause high blood pressure, headaches and kidney damage. It is extremely dangerous for both mother and baby. Doctors often recommend low-dose aspirin after the 12th week for high-risk patients.

There will almost assuredly be new discoveries involving aspirin, but it is also important to recognize that aspirin poses risks when taken for long periods of time. Bleeding ulcers and bleeding strokes can be potentially life-threatening complications of regular aspirin use. Aspirin can also interact with many other medications, especially anticoagulants.

No one should ever undertake long-lasting treatment with aspirin, even in low doses, without first checking with a physician. Medical supervision is essential. We only wish modern medicine would appreciate the value of this very old and inexpensive medicine.

In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of King Features, 300 W. 57th Street, 41st Floor, New York, NY 10019, or email them via their website: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is “Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them.”