What do we know about aspirin?
After finding a story about aspirin having an affect on diabetes I felt it would be an interesting angle to look at on the topic.
This story appealed to me because I have a family member with diabetes and thought it would be a beneficial way of learning something new about the illness. Also, aspirin is a common type of medication that most people use or have used, but isn't something I would claim to be an expert on.
Acording to this story and other stories that have been published about the issue, aspirin should not be used to prevent heart attacks in diabetes patients. Apparently, a trial took place involving 1300 people who had type 1 or 2 diabetes, but no symptoms of heart disease. Each candidate took aspirin on a daily basis and the overall results showed that the drug had no beneficial effects.
It is now being said that aspirin therefore, cannot prevent heart disease in diabetes, even though it is recommended to a lot of diabetes patients.
One of the side effects of taking aspirin is stomach bleeding, and for this reason it is said that the aspirin cannot prevent cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, in diabetics.
I had mixed feelings when I read this story. On the one hand, it's comforting to hear that scientists are looking into diabetes and looking for ways to prevent cardiovascular diseases, which kill a high percentage of type 1 and 2 diabetes sufferers. On the other hand, it's frightening to hear about the side effects of such an easily accessible form of medication, and makes me wonder if we don't know enough about this drug, what else should we be made aware of?
