Schimke K, Chubb SA, Davis WA et al.
University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
Diabet Med 2009;26:70–5.
Editor’s note: This study has been overtaken by events. The authors comment that aspirin is used by most patients with diabetes, that gastrointestinal hemorrhage is a significant side effect of aspirin use, and that
Helicobacterpylori infection is also a risk factor for hemorrhage. The authors examined data from the Fremantle Diabetes Study and found that there were several predictors of peptic ulcer disease. In this cohort, however, neither
H pylori status nor the use of aspirin predicted complicated peptic ulcer disease. Few would now recommend aspirin for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in diabetes, so the relevance of these negative findings is questionable.