Researchers tout multipurpose heart pill

A British study suggests one "polypill" combining several drugs could reduce cardiovascular risk for everyone older than 55; others say it might not suit all.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. July 21, 2003.

Statins lower cholesterol. Other medications lower blood pressure. Aspirin acts on the platelets. They all reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.

What if a patient could get all these benefits by taking just one pill?

According to several papers in the June 28 issue of the British Medical Journal, a "polypill" combining a statin, a thiazide, a beta-blocker, an ACE inhibitor, folic acid and aspirin has the potential to lower cardiovascular disease by 80% if taken by everyone older than 55. Those with other risk factors such as diabetes should be on the polypill even earlier.

"It's very much a change in approach, and it's a little bit like vaccination," said Dr. Nicholas Wald, an author of the papers and professor at the University of London. "The toxicity is low. The majority could take it, and the gains are really quite large."

To reach this conclusion, Dr. Wald and other university physicians analyzed hundreds of studies on the varying polypill ingredients, finding that the combination would mean one-third of those older than 55 would live an average of 11 more years free of heart attack or stroke.

Such a polypill could improve patient compliance with cardiovascular risk reduction therapy and might be cheaper than the multiple pills some take now, responded some American physicians.

"There's a lot of attractiveness to the idea," said Gregory Sachs, MD, governor of the New Jersey chapter of the American College of Cardiology and a senior cardiologist at Summit Medical Group.