The ADAPTABLE study, coordinated by the DCRI, will enroll as many as 15,000 cardiac patients to determine the optimal aspirin dose.
Doctors have known for decades that taking aspirin can reduce the risk for future heart attacks and strokes in people with cardiovascular disease. What is less clear is which dose is best. Participants in a new kind of clinical trial are helping them find out.
Some doctors prescribe a “baby aspirin” (81mg) once a day, while others recommend a full-strength (325mg) aspirin tablet. The difference is important because taking aspirin daily can potentially increase your risk of bleeding. Until now, there hasn’t been enough good-quality data to guide doctors’ decisions.
That’s where the ADAPTABLE (Aspirin Dosing: A Patient-centric Trial Assessing Benefits and Long-term Effectiveness) study comes in. The DCRI is coordinating the study, one of the first to make patients key partners in an effort to gather vast amounts of data quickly and efficiently. People with heart disease and who are at high risk of having a heart attack or stroke are randomly assigned to take an 81mg or 325mg aspirin daily and are followed for up to 30 months. Eventually, as many as 15,000 people around the U.S. will participate.
Patients Appreciate Opportunity to Advance Medical Knowledge
Retiree John Turk started having shortness of breath and chest tightness while juggling the stresses of selling his Cleveland, OH, home and buying a new one in Raleigh to be near his daughter. He hadn’t had symptoms before.
“My general practitioner immediately referred me to Duke to get checked out,” Turk said. “Within a few weeks, I had bypass surgery.” Duke interventional cardiologist Schuyler Jones, MD, worked with Turk during his post-surgical recovery period and encouraged him to get involved in the ADAPTABLE study.
“If this helps, I’m glad to be part of it,” Turk said. “Makes me feel good to help with the research.”
For full story from Duke Health Blog: https://www.dukehealth.org/blog/heart-patients-help-doctors-determine-best-aspirin-dose-new-clinical-trial