Baby aspirin therapy won't lower heart disease risk for T2Ds: research

http://www.health.harvard.edu/diabetes/aspirin-therapy-may-not-lower-heart-attack-risk-for-those-with-type-2-diabetes?

Really too bad, although not totally unexpected to me, since baby aspirin therapy seems to be mostly working for those who have already had a heart attack, not as a preventive for others.

While what you say may be true for the group, those at CVD/stroke risk do have benefits from the baby aspirin. Having watched a large number of surgeries the blood thinning effect of aspirin is real. Therefore the benefit is there for people at risk of clotting and CVD issues.

I am not surprised it doesn’t do much in a large population in relation to heart attacks because the effect is thinning the blood which doesn’t do much when considering plaques in your heart arteries.

I use some every day: I am at risk because my father had heart disease. I’d love to see preventive protection. But it seems that, so far, protective effect in studies is only shown for some that already had a heart attack :frowning:

Here is what the FDA says about baby aspirin:

“Since the 1990s, clinical data have shown that in people who have experienced a heart attack, stroke or who have a disease of the blood vessels in the heart, a daily low dose of aspirin can help prevent a reoccurrence,” Temple says. (A dose ranges from the 80 milligrams (mg) in a low-dose tablet to the 325 mg in a regular strength tablet.) This use is known as “secondary prevention.”
However, after carefully examining scientific data from major studies, FDA has concluded that the data do not support the use of aspirin as a preventive medication by people who have not had a heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular problems, a use that is called “primary prevention.” In such people, the benefit has not been established but risks—such as dangerous bleeding into the brain or stomach—are still present."

from https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm390539.htm