Aspirin

PARIS — In the AFIRE trial, rivaroxaban monotherapy was noninferior to rivaroxaban plus an antiplatelet agent with respect to CV events and death from any cause, and was superior for major bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation and stable CAD.

PARIS — Ticagrelor added to low-dose aspirin reduced the incidence of ischemic events in patients with stable CAD and diabetes without a history of MI or stroke, but increased major bleeding compared with aspirin alone, according to results of the THEMIS trial presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.

PARIS — Aspirin did not benefit older patients for the primary prevention of CVD, according to a new analysis from the ASPREE trial presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.

DNA methylation could explain the apparent varying influence of aspirin use on mortality risk after breast cancer diagnosis, according to results of a retrospective study published in Cancer.

A once-daily, fixed-dose polypill including aspirin, atorvastatin, hydrochlorothiazide and enalapril or valsartan was effective for the prevention of major CV events in adults living in low- and middle-income regions, with high adherence and low adverse events.

Electrical isolation of the left atrial appendage increased the risk for stroke, which can be reduced with left atrial appendage occlusion or uninterrupted oral anticoagulation, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

In patients with embolic stroke of undetermined source and carotid atherosclerosis, aspirin and rivaroxaban were equally effective at preventing recurrent stroke, but aspirin was safer, according to new data from the NAVIGATE ESUS trial.

Two new analyses based on the COMPASS trial identified patients at high vascular risk and with enrichment criteria that may benefit from combination rivaroxaban-aspirin therapy.

The use of aspirin for primary prevention became a hot topic after the publication of three landmark trials in 2018, which clarified the role of low-dose aspirin in primary CVD prevention.

The idea of “sunshine in a bottle” — vitamin D supplementation — has been promoted as a possible fix for everything from bone and immune system health to depression, dementia and diabetes, and the premise sells. According to recent CDC statistics, approximately 45% of middle-aged women and 38% of middle-aged men report taking a vitamin D supplement, and hundreds of thousands of Americans get tested for vitamin D deficiency each year.