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Health Professional Information

ASCEND is a mail-based, placebo controlled, randomised trial which aims to demonstrate whether aspirin and/or omega-3 fatty acids reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in individuals with diabetes who do not already have diagnosed occlusive arterial disease, and whether such benefits outweigh any potential risks.

In order to do this reliably, over 15,000 participants with diabetes and no clinical evidence of occlusive arterial disease have been randomly allocated to receive 100mg aspirin daily or matching placebo tablets and 1g omega-3 fatty acids or matching placebo capsules for about 7.5 years. A study of this size should have good power to detect a 15% proportional reduction in the cardiovascular event rate among such individuals. In order to be cost-effective, this study is being undertaken predominantly by mail, with back-up from a 24-hour Freefone Service.

Download the ASCEND study protocol here

results slides presented at the aHA scientific sessions 15 November 2021

Results presentations (with slides) at the ESC Congress August 2018

  1. Effects of Aspirin for Primary Prevention in Persons with Diabetes Mellitus presented by Professor Jane Armitage on behalf of The ASCEND Study Collaborative Group
  2. Effects of n−3 Fatty Acid Supplements in Diabetes Mellitus presented by Professor Louise Bowman on behalf of The ASCEND Study Collaborative Group

ASCEND Data Analysis Plans

Downloads