Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases in People With Diabetes Mellitus: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association

The recent American Diabetes Association/American Heart Association statement recommends the use of low doses of aspirin as a strategy for primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases in all individuals with diabetes aged >40 years or who have additional risk factors (1). Like in previous recommendations (2), only selected pieces of evidence are mentioned to support this statement. The data used to sustain the efficacy of aspirin come from the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study, the only study specifically conducted in diabetic patients with and without previous cardiovascular disease (3). In this trial, treatment with 650 mg aspirin for 5 years was associated with a nonsignificant 9% reduction in the primary end …