Higher aspirin dose better for diabetes

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EDMONTON, Alberta, July 7 (UPI) -- Higher daily doses of aspirin, as much as 325 milligrams daily, may play a role in preventing heart attacks for those with diabetes, Canadian researchers say.

Scot Simpson of the University of Alberta and colleagues looked at data from 21 studies that focused specifically on diabetic patients who had suffered a previous heart attack or stroke.

Simpson discovered patients with previous cardiac episodes who were taking a low dose of aspirin daily -- usually 81 mg -- had very little benefit in terms of prevention of a second heart attack or a decreased risk of mortality.

"We found that, if those patients took up to 325 milligrams of aspirin per day, they had a 23 percent lower risk of death," Simpson says in a statement.

People with diabetes are at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and there is evidence that suggests as much as 60 percent of deaths in diabetics are attributable to heart disease, Simpson said.