A study suggests that low-dose aspirin (100mg daily) may reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 15 per cent in individuals aged 65 and older. Researchers from Monash University in Australia investigated the impact of low-dose aspirin on the development of Type 2 diabetes and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels in older adults. Professor Sophia Zoungas from the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash explained, “Aspirin treatment lowered the incidence of diabetes and slowed the increase in fasting plasma glucose over time in initially healthy older adults.”
Research needed to explore potential of anti-inflammatory agents
She also noted that, considering the growing prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in older adults, further research is needed to explore the potential of anti-inflammatory agents like aspirin for diabetes prevention and glucose level improvement.
These findings are a continuation of a 2018 study that revealed aspirin increased the risk of major hemorrhages by 38 per cent in older adults without reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease. The recent study involved 16,209 community-dwelling individuals aged 65 or older who were free of cardiovascular disease, physical disabilities that limit independence, and dementia. Participants with diabetes at the study’s outset were excluded.
They were randomly assigned to receive either 100 mg of aspirin daily or a placebo, with 8,086 individuals in the aspirin group and 8,123 in the placebo group. Incident diabetes was defined as self-reported diabetes, the initiation of glucose-lowering medication, or a fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level of 7.0 mmol/L or higher during annual follow-up visits. During a median follow-up period of 4.7 years, 995 cases of incident diabetes were documented, with 459 in the aspirin group and 536 in the placebo group. Compared to the placebo group, the aspirin group experienced a 15 per cent reduction in incident diabetes and a slower rate of FPG increase.
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However, Professor Zoungas emphasized that the previous 2018 trial results indicated that aspirin did not prolong healthy independent living and was associated with a significantly increased risk of bleeding, primarily in the gastrointestinal tract. Major prescribing guidelines now recommend older adults take daily aspirin only when medically necessary, such as after a heart attack.
She concluded that while these new findings are intriguing, they do not alter the current clinical advice regarding aspirin use in older individuals. The research will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Germany in October.