Taking regular aspirin does not prevent heart attacks in people with diabetes, the results of a new Scottish study indicate.

It had been argued that routine use of the drug could help prevent the risk of suffering a heart attack.

Patients with diabetes are two to five times more likely to suffer from heart disease than the general population and heart disease is a major cause of death in patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Prof Jill Belch of the University of Dundee, along with her team, investigated whether aspirin and antioxidants given together or separately can reduce heart attacks and death in patients with diabetes and arterial disease.

Over 1,200 patients with diabetes and evidence of artery disease were randomly given aspirin, an antioxidant, both together or a placebo. Their progress was followed over an eight year period.

Overall, the researchers found that aspirin and antioxidant therapy provided no benefit in the prevention of heart attacks or death.

Patients in the aspirin group had 116 heart events, while those in the placebo group had 117 events. No significant difference was seen between the antioxidant group and the placebo group.

The findings contradict many guidelines which advocate people with diabetes use aspirin to counter the underlying high risk of heart attack and stroke.

But there are key high-risk groups who still need the drug, experts said.

Patients with concerns are advised to consult their GP before changing medication.

In people who have already had a heart attack or stroke, or have been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, aspirin has been shown to reduce the risk of future “events” by around 25%.

The findings are published in the British Medical Journal. In an accompanying editorial, Prof William Hiatt of the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, insisted that in light of these results and the results of other studies, the prescribing practice of doctors and international guidelines should be reviewed so that aspirin is only prescribed to patients with established heart and stroke disease.

He emphasised that unlike statins (cholesterol reducing drugs) and drugs for reducing high blood pressure, which produce benefits in all risk groups including those with and without heart disease, only patients with a history of heart disease or stroke appear to benefit from taking aspirin.