Popping aspirin on a regular basis may cut your risk of dying from cancer.

People who took the over-the-counter drug for several years were 21% less likely to die of stomach, esophageal and lung cancers, according to a study in the journal Lancet.

When British researchers looked at eight trials in which more than 25,000 patients participated, they learned that two decades later, the risk of those patients dying from lung cancer fell 30%, the risk of dying from esophageal cancer decreased by 60%, and the risk of dying from colorectal cancer dropped 40%, according to U.S. News and World Report.

"This is important as a proof of principle that a single simple compound like aspirin can reduce the risk of cancer substantially," study author Peter M. Rothwell told The NY Times. "There's been a lot of work over the years showing that certain compounds can increase the risk of cancer, but it's not been shown before that we can reduce the risk with something as simple as aspirin."

Low doses of aspirin have been used for years by those who want to lower their heart attack risk. Still, experts warn, aspirin also can be risky. Those who take it on a daily basis have an increased chance of developing an ulcer and internal bleeding, for instance. In fact, a daily aspirin bumps up the risk of internal bleeding to one in every 2,000 to 3,000 people.

Dr. Michael Aziz, an internist at Lenox Hill Hospital and author of "The Perfect 10 Diet," feels that only diabetics and those at a high risk for heart attack or stroke should take aspirin on a daily basis.

"People are popping aspirin like it’s nothing," he says. "Yet long term aspirin use has been linked to health problems such as macular degeneration."

Another potential risk with a regular regimen of aspirin could be bleeding into the brain, or a hemorrhagic stroke.

In the study, researchers learned that the size of the aspirin dose did not appear to be all that significant. In most trials, participants got a low dose of 75 to 100 milligrams. The patients that had the most dramatic reduction in cancer deaths were those who were in the longest lasting trials.

So does this mean you should take an aspirin a day? "Many people may wonder if they should start taking daily aspirin, but it would be premature to recommend people start taking aspirin specifically to prevent cancer," American Cancer Society epidemiologist Eric J. Jacobs told The Times. "It’s hard to assess effects on mortality from just one study."

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"Improv comedy is so stimulating, it's kind of like vitamins for the brain." So says 85-year-old Lois Peltier, who is a resident and a member of an improv group at the Vi at The Glen, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) in Glenview.

"We're often called the 'World's Oldest Improv Group' because most of us are primarily in our 80s, and we have a couple [members] in their 90s," said Peltier, who lives in a two-bedroom residence at the Vi with her husband, Noel, 87.

The senior improv group has 10 members and practices every Wednesday afternoon at the retirement community with students (from freshmen to seniors) from nearby Glenbrook South High School.

"We love working with the students," Peltier said. "Plus, it does seem to be good for the students to work with us because when they see us doing improv it helps them to appreciate that life doesn't end with high school or college and that grandparents can have a good time, too. Surprise! Surprise!" Peltier said. "Over the years many of them have gone on to college and some come back and visit us."

Peltier has been a member of the improv group since she moved to the Vi seven years ago. Sometimes the troupe performs at local events, but most often for residents of the retirement community.

"Improv keeps me young. It's a challenge like any puzzle or game although we don't win at this. But you still want to do well and have others do well too," said Peltier, who is a retired nursing home activities director.

To help practice, the senior improv troupe often starts with a location and then each member has to start from there and develop a character.

"Seniors here are amazing because they've retained their sense of humor, ability and flexibility," Peltier said. "I'll work with maybe three other people at one time and we learn to feed off each other [for the comedy]."

"Not everyone shows up every week, but sometimes that's good because fewer people seems to help seniors who are little more timid than others. They have to get up and do it and find they are very capable," Peltier said.

Meanwhile, residents at the Vi at the Glen have plenty of other activities to enjoy.

"We offer so many recreational options -- fitness classes, aqua aerobics, tai chi, yoga, walking groups, golf outings, poker nights, socials, themed parties, concerts, book and current events discussion groups and computer instruction," said Andrea Agazim, lifestyle director at the Vi. "We have a play reading group, memoir writing workshops, book clubs, arts and crafts and a knitting group that makes blankets for charity. There's even a garden here, so residents can do their own gardening.

"Improv is great, but there are so many other things to do here, too," Peltier said.

Vi at The Glen is a retirement community that offers its residents a combination of housing, dining, and certain amenities and health care services in return for a monthly fee and an entrance fee. Residents do not purchase their apartments. The entrance fee and monthly fees give the resident the right to occupy his/her apartment for life and cover the services while residing at the community.

The community consists of a three-story main building with common areas and 251 one- and two-bedroom apartments. There also are 45 free-standing villas surrounding the main building.

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VALLEJO, CA - AUGUST 11: Touro University medical student Shamis Fallah (R) prepares a Tdap vaccination during the Solano County health fair August 11, 2010 in Vallejo, California. California medical officials are urging California residents to get booster shots for whooping cough as the state is in the midst of the largest outbreak in over fifty years. Close to 1,500 cases of whooping cough have been reported this year, including six cases that resulted in deaths of children under three years old.

U.S. doctors increasingly are ditching pen and paper and sending prescriptions to pharmacies electronically, lured by up to $27 billion in government funds aimed at speeding the switch to electronic medical records.

There are now 200,000 doctors who use e-prescribing, or roughly one in three office-based doctors. That compares with 156,000 at the end of last year, and 74,000 at the end of 2008, according to new data released on Tuesday by Surescripts, which operates the largest U.S. electronic prescribing network. They said 47 states more than doubled their use of electronic prescribing last year.

In Massachusetts, one in three prescriptions is now written electronically, and 57 percent of doctors are sending prescriptions electronically. Doctors in Michigan, a state that has been hit hard by a slowdown in the automotive industry, make the most use of features that allow them to see if a patient's health plan covers certain drugs.

President Barack Obama has made using information technology a central plank in his plan to cut costs out of a U.S. healthcare system that consistently ranks lower in quality measures than other rich countries.

PENALTIES LOOM

In 2009, Congress authorized funding to promote electronic health records as part of the economic stimulus package. Incentives will be paid out over five years, and by 2015 providers will face penalties if they don't adopt the new technology. As a result, many more doctors are expected to switch to electronic prescriptions, which promise to prevent medical errors caused by poor handwriting and harmful drug interactions.

Dr. Edward Lisberg, an asthma and allergy specialist based in River Forest, Illinois, made the switch to e-prescribing and electronic medical records nine months ago. He said moving to e-prescribing was much easier than the transition he made to electronic medical records, which involves transferring years of patient medical histories into a digital form.

Lisberg said in a telephone interview his practice does not have enough Medicare patients required to qualify for up to $44,000 offered by the government to cover the cost of converting from paper to digital health records. And he sees e-prescribing largely as a convenience to patients, although it does offer a bit of improvement on his admittedly messy handwriting.

"It's a time-saver for patients, but not much for doctors," Lisberg said. That's because he may have to create new templates if he wants to customize a prescription. But it does mean patients don't lose their prescriptions anymore, he said.

Health information technology companies include Cerner Corp, McKesson Corp and Quality Systems Inc, as well as larger technology companies such as General Electric's GE Healthcare unit, Siemens, Microsoft Corp and Google Inc.

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You'd better think twice before taking over-the-counter supplements - it could be a matter of life and death.

Fighting the battle of the bulge? A new Consumer Reports investigation warns that taking bitter orange or country mallow to help the process can have fatal results.

Looking for an aphrodisiac? The magazine says it can be a killer at high doses.

Also on the Dirty Dozen list of legal, nonprescription remedies that can sicken or kill: aconite, chaparral, colloidal silver, coltsfoot, comfrey, germanium, greater celandine, kava and lobelia.

"Just because it's natural doesn't mean it's safe," supplement user Trieva Jordan, 33, said Monday at a midtown Manhattan Vitamin Shoppe.

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Next time you shop at Walgreens for toothpaste and shampoo, you can also pick up an at-home test kit to see if you’re at risk for getting Alzheimer’s, breast cancer or dozens of other health conditions.

The Insight personal genetic testing kit should be in the stores Friday, making Walgreens the first major American chain store to sell at-home health risk assessment kits. In August, CVS will get the kits.

But would you really want to know if you have a good chance at coming down with a dreaded illness? Do-it-yourself kits like these could one day be as common as early pregnancy tests and let consumers get information about their future health prospects before they go to the doctor, according to marketers.

Yet counselors and bio-ethicists worry that shoppers will not understand or that they’ll misuse the test results. Also, the information they glean may be frightening or misinterpreted without a health expert’s guidance.

The Food and Drug Administration is looking into medical claims made by Insight’s manufacturer, Pathway Genomics, according to the Chicago Tribune. But the California-based company says its test meets federal regulations and that it’s not subject to FDA approval.

“The tests conducted are not an in-vitro medical device and are not intended for use in diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or cure of disease,” Pathway’s vice president of product management, Ed MacBean, told The Tribune. “It does provide information that allows a person to learn about their health to make healthier lifestyle choices. If the FDA contacts us, we will discuss it and address any concerns they might have.”

The Insight kit will cost $20 to $30 and will be sold at approximately 6,000 of the retail chain’s 7,500 stores. A customer who buys one receives a vial and mailing envelope. After mailing in a sample of saliva in the vial, buyers get their results online. The report costs anywhere from $79 to $179, depending upon the type of test. Among the diseases that the kit screens for are diabetes, prostate cancer and cystic fibrosis.

Already widely available in drug stores are at-home DNA paternity and gender prediction kits. But in the past, genetic testing was done in conjunction with a visit to the doctor and a consultation with a health professional.

The value of such kits is being questioned by some scientists. For the majority of diseases, no one really knows why some people fall victim and others don’t, according to Peter Kraft, deputy director of the Program in Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.

“The company states, everyone has the right to know the secrets hidden within their DNA,” he told the Tribune. “Fair enough, but that is a lot of work. I don’t think this is the way to go.”

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