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Plenty of people pop an aspirin here or there to ease aches and pains, and, in certain instances, to help prevent a heart attack or stroke. Aspirin is so ubiquitous in our medicine cabinets that 1 in 4 adults ages 50 to 80 say they take the over-the-counter med at least three days per week, according to a March report from the University of Michigan's National Poll on Healthy Aging, supported by AARP and Michigan Medicine.
But for a select group of adults, aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) — like ibuprofen and naproxen — can worsen their breathing problems, even sending some to the ER.
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What is AERD?
We’re talking about aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease, or AERD, which affects about 9 percent of adults with asthma, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI). “AERD is a chronic inflammatory disease of the respiratory tract primarily involving the sinuses and the airways in the lungs,” says John Bosso, M.D., the medical director of the Penn AERD Center and professor of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery at Penn Medicine.
AERD has three main features, says Kirk Waibel, M.D., who is board certified in allergy and immunology at Aspire Allergy & Sinus in San Antonio, Texas:
- Asthma, which may be difficult to control
- Underlying sinus disease with nasal polyps (benign growths in the nasal cavity)
- Reaction to aspirin or other NSAID medications
All of these things don’t happen all at once. People with AERD tend to develop the reaction to an NSAID about nine months after being diagnosed with asthma, though it can take years, according to one study published in 2019 in the journal International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology. And although the average age of diagnosis is in one’s 30s, Bosso says their center has seen new diagnoses as late as the early 60s. “Just because you’ve made it past a certain age doesn’t mean you can’t have this condition,” he says.
The fortunate news is that AERD becomes less aggressive after menopause and as you get into your 70s – and beyond, and it can be easier to manage, Bosso says.
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