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Should aspirin be used for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in people with diabetes?

Robyn L Woods, Andrew M Tonkin, Mark R Nelson, Helena C Britt and Christopher M Reid
Med J Aust 2009; 190 (11): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb02587.x
Published online: 1 June 2009

Robust evidence remains to be gathered

Whenever possible, clinical decision making should be evidence-based. In reality, the evidence may be incomplete and the practitioner must use personal clinical judgement. This should be based on recommendations or guidelines provided by authoritative groups.


  • 1 Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.
  • 2 Menzies Research Institute, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS.
  • 3 Australian General Practice Statistics and Classification Centre, School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW.



Competing interests:

Andrew Tonkin, Mark Nelson and Christopher Reid have received support from Bayer HealthCare (a manufacturer of aspirin) for their ongoing NHMRC-supported ASPREE trial. Bayer HealthCare provided an educational grant (US$250 000) and is now supplying aspirin and placebo for ASPREE.

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