The University of Oxford needs 10,000 people with diabetes to help with a national study.
The aim is to develop a strategy to help people with diabetes reduce their chance of having a heart attack or stroke. Although four out of five people with diabetes do not currently have circulatory disease, diabetes does increase the risk of developing it and circulatory disease is the biggest cause of death in the UK.
The study, called ASCEND - A Study of Cardiovascular Events in Diabetes - is being funded by the British Heart Foundation and seeks to answer two important points.
Firstly, aspirin is known to reduce the number of heart attacks and strokes in people who have already suffered one, but aspirin also causes bleeding. At present, it is not known whether the benefits of aspirin outweigh the risk in people with diabetes who have no circulatory disease.
Secondly, Omega 3 fatty acids (fish oils) might reduce the incidence of circulatory disease, but no trials have yet
investigated this in people with diabetes.
So far, over 5000 people with diabetes have joined this important medical study.
The study is open to anyone with any type of diabetes aged 40 or over. Eligibility criteria is checked with a screening questionnaire. Volunteers are excluded if they have a history of vascular disease (heart attack, stroke or angina) or are currently taking warfarin.
Patients treated with insulin, tablets or diet alone for their diabetes are all suitable for the study. Please visit the trial website www.ctsu.ox.ac.uk/ascend or call Freefone 0800 585323.