Not all patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) should be routinely prescribed daily aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) for prevention regardless of their cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Aspirin is routinely prescribed for prevention of cardiovascular events that include nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), unstable angina, ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA) or cardiovascular death [1]. In general, the benefit of aspirin as primary prevention in patients who have a low-risk profile for cardiovascular events is questionable, particularly due to high risk of intracranial and gastrointestinal bleeding associated with aspirin use [2]. Given the increased risk for a cardiovascular event, the diabetic patient could benefit from aspirin therapy for primary prevention. However, the routine practice of aspirin for all diabetic patients has been controversial [2]. Nevertheless, administration of daily low-dose aspirin (81 mg) is well recognized in diabetics for secondary prevention [2,3].In 2015 thirty million Americans; 9.4% of the US population; with more than 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year [4]. The incidence of diabetes is highest among American Indians/Alaskan Natives (15.1%) followed by African Americans (12.7%). Diabetes is associated with high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality that drives the cost of healthcare for diabetic patients to be 2.3 times higher than what cost would be for non-diabetic patients [4]. This lead to the emphasis on preventing cardiovascular events in diabetic patients by slowing atherosclerosis process using statin therapy, a healthy lifestyle and good glucose control.
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