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For Immediate Release
AFA Comment On Discovery of P1A2
Polymorphism
April 29, 1998
The Aspirin Foundation of America said today that the latest study by researchers at Ohio
State University, published in the April 25 issue of the British medical journal The Lancet, is
potentially an exciting breakthrough that may revolutionize the way people can prevent heart
attacks. But it cautioned that further research is needed.
The study suggests that patients who exhibit specific genetic factors on the surface of
platelets, the cells responsible for blood clotting, are more sensitive to the beneficial effects
of aspirin in preventing heart attacks. Labeled the P1A2 polymorphism by researchers, the
genetic factor is a slight alteration of the platelet surface that is found among up to 50 percent
of the population.
"We know that aspirin is a very efficient drug in the prevention of heart attacks," said Dr.
Pascal Goldschmidt, chief of the division of cardiology and director of the Heart and Lung
Institute at Ohio State University. "It reduces the risk of heart attacks by 25 to 50 percent,
which happens to be, perhaps coincidentally, almost exactly the frequency of this
polymorphism in Western society.
Dr. Thomas Bryant, president of the Aspirin Foundation of America, said the discovery of the
P1A2 polymorphism may help doctors better determine who is at risk for heart attacks and
who might benefit the most from daily doses of aspirin. "However, this is an initial study and
while it is very promising, it should be treated as such. We still need a considerable amount
of research in this area before we begin making medical recommendations."
The Aspirin Foundation of America is a non-profit, educational foundation that has been
collecting and disseminating health and scientific information on aspirin since 1981.
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Contact:
Caroline Perrin
807 National Press Building, Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 800-432-3247 Fax: 202/737-8406
info@aspirin.org
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