Sandborn, who's familiar with the findings, agreed with Hart that patients need to think about the benefits of aspirin use, including the reduced risk of not only heart disease but also colorectal cancer.
The study found no link between aspirin use and ulcerative colitis, another digestive disorder.
Future research is needed to confirm the aspirin-Crohn's disease link and determine what aspirin has to do with the higher risk, Hart said.
"If it does turn out to be a true link in the future, then it will be only one of many factors involved in causing Crohn's disease," he said. "Because aspirin has benefits, users should continue with it."
The study was to be presented Monday at the Digestive Disease Week conference in New Orleans.
More information
For more about Crohn's disease, see the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
-- Randy Dotinga
SOURCES: Andrew Hart, M.D, senior lecturer, gastroenterology, University of East Anglia School of Medicine, United Kingdom; William J. Sandborn, M.D., vice chair, division of gastroenterology and hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; May 3, 2010, presentation, Digestive Disease Week conference, New Orleans
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