Older men who regularly take aspirin or a similar painkiller may help keep prostate enlargement at bay, a new study finds. The common condition, called benign prostatic hyperplasia, typically affects one of every four men ages 40 to 50 and almost half of those over 70, experts say. Enlarged prostate can lead to frequent urination and other bothersome effects. However, men who regularly took a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) ‘had a reduction of 50 percent in enlargement and a 35 percent reduction in moderate to severe urinary problems,’ said Jenny St. Sauver, a Mayo Clinic epidemiologist who led the study, which was reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology. It didn’t matter which NSAID a man was taking: aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen (Aleve) or a more expensive cox-2 inhibitor such as Celebrex, St. Sauver said. ‘Eighty percent were taking daily aspirin,’ she said. ‘We did look at the other drugs, but the differences were not statistically significant.’ The study was prompted by several earlier studies that suggested a decreased risk of prostate cancer for men who took NSAIDs regularly. This study included nearly 2,500 men living in the neighborhood of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Data on […]