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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Low-dose aspirin has been recommended as a primary prevention strategy for patients with an increased cardiovascular risk, but new research shows it may not significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Researchers at Kumamoto University in Japan examined whether low-dose aspirin is beneficial for primary prevention of atherosclerotic (narrowing or hardening of the arteries due to plaque build-up) events in patients with type 2 diabetes. They studied patients with type 2 diabetes and no history of atherosclerotic disease from 163 institutions throughout Japan. Participants were randomly assigned to receive daily low-dose aspirin or no aspirin. In patients younger than 65 the difference in outcomes between the two groups was not significant.
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Myocardial infarction [heart attack] and ischemic stroke are leading causes of mortality and morbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes. Given the rapid increase in the number of patients with type 2 diabetes worldwide and especially in Asia, establishing effective means of primary prevention of coronary and cerebrovascular events is an important public health priority, study authors were quotes as saying.
Although the study did not find low-dose aspirin to significantly reduce the risk of atherosclerotic events in primary prevention therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes, the authors suggest more research is needed.
SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, published online Nov. 9, 2008
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