The consumption of 'aspirin' twice a day, instead of the current recommendation once a day, could improve cardiovascular protection in people with type 2 diabetes, according to a small study that is presented at the annual meeting of theEuropean Diabetes Association (EASD), which is held this year in Lisbon, Portugal, reports EP.
Cardiovascular (CDV) disease is the main cause of disease and death in people with type 2 diabetes. ‘Aspirin’ is standard antiplatelet therapy and guidelines generally recommend a dose once a day for the prevention of CDV.
The drug acts by reducing platelet aggregation, so blood platelets (cells that encourage coagulation) are less likely to form clots, which can lead to a stroke or a heart attack.
However, it has a very short half life and the studies suggest that a regime of this drug once a day does not completely inhibit the platelet function when the volume of platelets increases, as seen in people with diabetes.For this reason, it is known that ‘aspirin’ is less effective in people with diabetes and history of ECV, but it has not been explored if the same happens in people without a history.
In this study, Liv Venstroem and colleagues at the Aarhus University Hospital, in Denmark, investigated whether the effect of the 'aspirin' decreases (that is, increases platelet aggregation) during the 24 -hour dosing interval in 21 people with diabetes butNo ECV and healthy controls during a week of low dose treatment of this medication.They also evaluated whether in patients with diabetes the platelet replacement had increased compared to the control group.
Blood samples were taken at the beginning of the study and one hour after the intake of 75 milligrams of 'aspirin' to determine how the platelet function of the participants responded acutely to the drug and evaluate the levels of platelet aggregation before treatment with 'Aspirin'.Then, the participants were treated for six days with ‘aspirin’ once a day and blood samples were taken for an hour and 24 hours after taking ‘aspirin’ to compare the levels of platelet aggregation during the dosing interval.
The scientists detected that patients treated with ‘aspirin’ with diabetes without a history of ECV registered a time -dependent increase in platelet aggregation through the standard 24 -hour dosing interval, which was also observed in the control group.
This means that the ability of ‘aspirin’ to inhibit platelet aggregation and, therefore, prevent ECV by stopping clot formation, had decreased during the dosage interval when the drug is only administered once a day.Since patients with diabetes have a higher risk of CDV, an antiplatelet treatment that covers the entire dosing interval and, perhaps, a daily dosage of ‘aspirin’ is more effective should be chosen.
They also discovered that, before the trial, patients with DT2 who had not taken ‘aspirin’ had registered an increase in platelet aggregation compared to healthy controls.This indicates that the platelets of patients with diabetes have a higher hemostatic potential (a greater capacity to form clots), perhaps increasing the risk of ECV in this group of patients.
The authors conclude: «Since platelets in people with diabetes are characterized by an increase in aggregation and increased rotation rates, our study indicates that patients with type 2 diabetes can achieve an additional benefit of taking twiceA dayinstead of a daily dose of ‘aspirin’.Additional long -term tests are needed to confirm the safety and effectiveness of this approach ».
