Primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in diabetes with aspirin

Diabetes is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk. The role for aspirin in diabetes is of high clinical interest. Guidelines recommend that primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in diabetes with aspirin should be based on the individual risk for CVD. New mechanistic studies suggest that enhanced platelet turnover may partly contribute to the fact the primary prevention studies found unequivocal results in diabetes. There is initial evidence that a potential future modification of dosages in diabetes may counteract the enhancement in platelet turnover in diabetes. The use of aspirin in diabetic patients for secondary prevention of CVD is supported by key evidence. The aim of the review is to present recent studies on aspirin for prevention of CVD in diabetes and to highlight its role also in view of new mechanistic and clinical studies with aspirin. Novel aspects of aspirin, e.g. its potential role for the prevention of cancer, are also presented.