New study provides key insights into aspirin's disease-fighting abilities

A new explanation has been found for how aspirin works in the body to reduce the risk of heart disease and certain cancers. Aspirin's active form, salicylic acid, blocks a protein called HMGB1, which triggers inflammation in damaged tissues. The new findings may explain the disease-preventing effects of a low-dose aspirin regimen and offer hope that more effective aspirin-like drugs may be developed for a wide variety of diseases.