Why Diabetic Patients Need Aspirin
08 Aug 2005
Why do diabetic patients die? Over 60 years ago, Joslin, the founder of the world famous Boston Diabetic Clinic, remarked, "With an excess of fat diabetes begins, and from an excess of fat diabetics die." Years ago diabetic patients died in coma due to a lack of insulin. Today, since the discovery of insulin, patients are dying from premature cardiovascular disease. Why does this happen and can Aspirin save many of these deaths?
November is Diabetes Month in North America to promote awareness of this disease. And justly so. Every year I see diabetic patients making a potentially fatal mistake. They’re usually prudent about maintaining normal blood sugar levels, but imprudent by not taking a daily Aspirin. Aspirin’s job is the prevention of blood clots.
Diabetic patients exhibit an increased production of thromboxane which causes blood cells to stick together forming clots. Aspirin blocks the production of thromboxane.
A study by researchers at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta reports the alarming news that 98 percent of diabetics should be taking Aspirin, but only 20 percent are. And virtually all diabetics have some degree of cardiovascular disease (CVD) which means increased diabetic complications.
To make matters worse 95 percent of those with lifestyle diabetes (type 2 diabetes) are obese, and many suffer from hypertension, high cholesterol, a family history of heart disease and some even smoke. Yet the CDC study revealed that only 13 percent of this high-risk group take Aspirin.This failure to take Aspirin will have disastrous consequences, according to the CDC. It predicts that six million diabetics in North America will develop needless cardiovascular complications. They will die from atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries that affects many organs.
Twenty-five years ago I coined a formula, that EP equals A plus D (Extra pounds equals Atherosclerosis plus Diabetes). Diabetes and atherosclerosis are medical cousins, and they’re a lethal combination. Some patients will die from kidney failure. Others will lose their eyesight or legs due to gangrene. And 50 percent of diabetics will die of heart attack.
During this annual diabetes month doctors and patients will have to combat an ironic situation. Today many people over age 50 are taking a daily 81mg (milligram) enteric coated Aspirin. They have heard that Aspirin has several medical benefits. Yet why are so many diabetes patients, the ones who most need Aspirin, not taking it?
It may be that diabetic patients are so focussed on insulin and other drugs to maintain normal blood sugar level that Aspirin gets lost in the shuffle. If that’s the case it’s long past the time to change this situation.
It’s equally ironic that many heart patients are also missing the boat. One study showed that 51 percent of patients who have had a heart attack were not taking Aspirin. And that 7 percent of patients who had suffered a coronary attack consumed Tylenol rather than Aspirin. But Tylenol is not effective in inhibiting blood clots.
Too many doctors and patients have forgotten the Harvard Health Study. Dr. Charles Henneken, a Harvard researcher followed 22,000 healthy male doctors who had never had a heart attack. Half the doctors took 325 mg of Aspirin every other day. The other half took a placebo. Five years later those over the age of 50 who took Aspirin had 44 percent fewer heart attacks.
Obesity and type 2 diabetes have created the "Perfect Storm" in medicine. And the consequences are frightening. The World Health Association reports that every 45 seconds a new diabetic is diagnosed in North America. This figure will escalate as the rate of obesity shows no sign of decreasing. And unless something is done the cost of treating diabetes and its complications will destroy our health care system.
Today we have the greatest communication system the world has ever seen. But the stark fact remains that many people with diabetes and other diseases are not getting the right message about prevention, or none at all.
During Diabetes Month ask your doctors about the benefits of Aspirin. Aspirin can, on occasion, cause gastrointestinal bleeding. But the use of an enteric coated pill, and the small 81mg dose decreases the risk of this complication.
