Aspirin may protect against dementia in T2DM

March 2, 2018|Diabetes Hub

REPORTING FROM THE AHA SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS

She was quick to acknowledge that the novel JPAD 2 findings cry out for replication in other studies with larger numbers and/or longer follow-up.

Session moderator Mary Cushman, MD, declared, “I think this is really exciting and interesting.”

There are quite a few Western large cohort studies examining the use of low-dose aspirin for prevention of cardiovascular events, and many of them also feature cognitive outcomes. It should be easy to find collaborators from those studies who could cull out the data on participants with type 2 diabetes in order to confirm the JPAD 2 findings, according to Dr. Cushman, professor of medicine and pathology and medical director of the thrombosis and hemostasis program at the University of Vermont in Burlington.

Asked to speculate on the mechanism for the divergent efficacy of low-dose aspirin in men and women with T2DM in JPAD 2, Dr. Matsumoto said play of chance may have had a partial role. The incidence of dementia was roughly 50% greater in the JPAD 2 women than in the men, so the study may have been underpowered to look at the dementia rate in men. But there may be a biologic mechanism at work, as well: Apolipoprotein E4, which is linked to increased risk of dementia, is believed to interact with gender, she said.

Dr. Matsumoto reported having no financial conflicts.

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SOURCE: Matsumoto C. AHA scientific sessions.