NSAIDs for Enlarged Prostate

Ivanhoe Newswire
Wednesday, August 30, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Taking daily aspirin to ward off heart disease may have an unexpected benefit for men ... fewer trips to the bathroom.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or enlarged prostate, causes problems like frequent urination, trouble starting urination, awakening frequently to urinate, and an urgent need to urinate. The condition affects one in four men ages 40 to 50 and nearly 50 percent of 70- to 80-year-olds.

Researchers from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., reveal in a new study that men who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are 50 percent less likely to develop an enlarged prostate than men who do not take NSAIDs.

The researchers surveyed more than 2,000 men twice a year between 1990 and 2002. A portion of the group was examined for signs of enlarged prostate.

Researchers report it did not seem to matter which kind of NSAID men took. The majority of the men studied were taking aspirin, but the men taking non-aspirin NSAIDs also had a decrease in their risk of enlarged prostate.

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SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, published online Aug. 30, 2006