61.7% of diabetics aged 60 and over regularly consume aspirin, compared to 42.2% of non-diabetic seniors. Worrying figures.
- More than 4.5 million people in France have diabetes, but about 1 million of them are unaware of it.
- Diabetes is “one of the world’s leading killers”, along with high blood pressure and smoking, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Diabetics over 60 tend to use more aspirin than other people of the same age, according to a new JAMA study. A finding that worries scientists, because if the preventive role of aspirin against cardiovascular disease is well established, the impact of this drug on diabetics is not necessarily beneficial.
More specifically, this new cross-sectional study was carried out from 2011 to 2018, questioning 7,103 Americans. It revealed that 61.7% of diabetics aged 60 and over regularly consumed aspirin, compared to 42.2% of non-diabetic seniors. This trend is more marked in diabetic men than in women. “Aspirin use increased with age and higher risk of cardiovascular disease in people without diabetes, whereas it was uniformly elevated in people with diabetes,” comment the researchers.
“It is important to monitor the use of aspirin”
“While new health guidelines advise against the routine use of aspirin in people 70 years and older, these results suggest that this population may overuse aspirin if treatment is not actively discontinued, particularly in diabetics”, analyze scientists. “It is therefore important to monitor the use of aspirin in order to minimize the risk of future harm in the older segment of the population,” conclude the experts.
According to a study carried out in 2018the use of aspirin prevents serious vascular events in diabetics, but it is also the cause of major bleeding episodes. “The absolute benefits are therefore largely counterbalanced by the risk of bleeding”, then estimated the Egora.fr site.
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