What can diabetic patients do to prolong their lives? The obvious answer is early diagnosis and treatment with insulin and other medication. But it's estimated that six million diabetics in North America are headed for needless complications, because they're not taking what's been called the drug of the 20th century, Aspirin.
A recent study by researchers at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta reports this alarming news. It claims that virtually 98 percent of diabetics should be taking Aspirin. But only 20 percent are.
Equally worrying is the fact that only 13 percent of diabetics with risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), obesity, smoking, hypertension, a family history of CVD or high cholesterol, use Aspirin.
Particularly appalling, only 37 percent of diabetics who already have cardiovascular disease take Aspirin.
But why do so many diabetic patients make the disastrous mistake of ignoring a daily Aspirin? When it's known that diabetes triggers cardiovascular problems, coronary attack, kidney failure, blindness and gangrene of the legs?
The study at the CDC once again confirmed this fact. It showed that 98 percent of those with diabetes either have evidence of CVD or at least one or more risk factors.
It's amazing that so many diabetics overlook Aspirin when it's been proven so beneficial for those without diabetes.
It was the Harvard Health Study that made everyone sit up and take notice. Dr. Charles Henneken, a Harvard researcher, followed 22,000 healthy male doctors. None of them had suffered a heart attack. Half the doctors took 325 milligrams (mg) of Aspirin every other day. The others took a placebo.
Five years later, those over the age of 50 who took Aspirin had 44 percent fewer heart attacks. Subsequent studies on women showed it reduced the risk of coronary attack by 25 percent.
Patients who had already suffered a heart attack had a 20 percent less chance of a second one by taking Aspirin. For those with unstable angina (coronary pain while at rest) Aspirin decreased the risk of heart attack by 50 percent. It also reduced the risk of coronary attack for patients following bypass surgery.
Patients with an irregular heart beat (atrial fibrillation) are known to have a five times greater risk of stroke. The use of Aspirin decreases the risk by 50 to 80 percent!
But suppose you're not taking Aspirin regularly and sudden severe chest pain suggests a coronary attack? Studies show that if you chew two Aspirins immediately the risk of imminent death decreases by 25 percent.
The message should be clear to everyone. Since Aspirin decreases the risk of CVD for those with and without heart disease, it's even more important for diabetics. The ones prone to CVD.
How Aspirin prevented cardiovascular complications wasn't known until 1971. At that time Sir John Vane, a British scientist, reported how Aspirin prevents clotting.
Blood clots form when blood platelets become activated due to injury. They then release a prostaglandin called thromboxane which causes them to stick together forming a clot. Aspirin removes this stickiness by stopping the production of thromboxane.
Why are the benefits of Aspirin so neglected when they are so obvious? It may be that diabetic patients are often on so many other medications that Aspirin gets lost in the shuffle.
But diabetic patients are not the only ones left out in the cold. The same scenario occurs in victims of heart disease.
One study showed that 51 percent of patients who have had a heart attack were not taking Aspirin. Moreover seven percent of patients who had suffered a coronary attack mistakenly consumed Tylenol. But Tylenol is not effective in inhibiting blood clots.
The World Health Organization now declares diabetes a global problem. Diabetes affects five percent of the population in this country. Every 45 seconds a new diabetic is diagnosed in North America. Yet most people are unaware of this epidemic. The best protection against developing diabetes is to not gain weight. Just 50 years ago 10 percent of diabetics were obese. Now 90 percent of those with this disease are overweight.
If you're over 50, suffer from diabetes, heart disease or other risk factors ask your doctor about Aspirin. He or she may decide that an 81 mg enteric coated Aspirin will help to circumvent cardiovascular complications.
Never treat yourself. Aspirin can cause stomach irritation and bleeding. But the use of a buffered or enteric type decreases this risk. Inform your doctor if you've had a recent gastrointestinal hemorrhage, a bleeding tendency, active liver disease, on anticoagulant therapy, or are allergic to Aspirin.
These patients should not take Aspirin.
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