A new study shows low-dose aspirin therapy is a reasonable deterrent against a first heart attack or stroke for people with diabetes and a high risk for heart disease. This treatment is best recommended for men under 50 years old and women under 60.
People with diabetes are three times at risk for cardiovascular events than people without diabetes. About 68% of patients with diabetes and over 65 years old die from coronary heart disease and 16% die from stroke.
Researchers have been looking for years for ways to prevent heart disease in people who have diabetes. So far, researchers have found many different mechanisms for increased heart risk for people with diabetes: increased tendency toward clot formation, platelet activity, and damage to the arterial wall lining. While results of the study were somewhat mixed, researchers still support the aspirin regiment. What need to be more defined in the future are the specific effects of aspirin with patients with diabetes like gender-related differences.
The benefits of aspirin therapy will have a greater effect if the patient is more at risk for heart disease. Though, the aspirin therapy should only be considered after weighing out other treatments like cholesterol-lowering medication, blood pressure control, and quitting smoking.
There have been multiple studies linking diseases to heart disease. One link that is commonly overlooked is that relating Heart Disease to Diabetes. Diabetes is one of the largest epidemics facing the nation and in a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed rates of Type 2 diabetes almost doubling nationwide in the past decade. Diabetes is the fifth leading killer in the United States. A devastating two out of three people with type I or type II diabetes will die from a heart attack or stroke – the combined leading causes of death among diabetics. CNN.com recently published an article, “Diabetes and Heart Disease: A Fatal Link” which discusses the link between these two epidemics in great detail.
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