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One pill fits all - five drugs combined could halve heart attacks and strokes
Ellen Widdup31 Mar 2009
A COCKTAIL of drugs in one pill could slash heart disease and strokes by a half, research suggests.
A study into the new "polypill", which combines five drugs including aspirin, a statin to lower cholesterol, folic acid and two blood pressure-lowering medicines, claims if it were given to healthy middle-aged people it would dramatically reduce the number diagnosed every year.
The drug, Polycap, was manufactured cheaply by an Indian generics company Cadila Pharmaceuticals, and was tested on 412 volunteers. Scientists compared the results with those of patients who took each component separately.
They found that the combined action of all the ingredients together worked to lower both cholesterol and blood pressure more effectively than taking just one of the drugs on its own.
Professor Malcolm Law, from the Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine in London, one of the pioneers of the treatment, said it was an affordable solution which would greatly reduce NHS expenditure on doctors' appointments and treatment.
"These drugs are off-patent and cost pennies," he said. "You might be talking in terms of 50p a day. It's not going to make megabucks for anyone but it's a public health thing.
"We have long advocated the polypill as a safe and effective way of greatly reducing the incidence of heart attacks and strokes in the population." The concept of a polypill for everyone over 55 was mooted over five years ago, but progress has been slow.
Professor Law said this new trial had revealed the pill has the desired effects and is safe and well-tolerated by those who take it. Critics have questioned the ethics of taking a pill instead of changing an unhealthy lifestyle.
Mike Rich of The Blood Pressure Association charity said: "Eating healthily and taking regular exercise are proven ways to lower high blood pressure and have many other health benefits too - and there is a danger that these lifestyle factors could be overlooked in favour of 'popping a pill'."
A spokeswoman for the British Heart Foundation said the pill warranted further investigation to see if it was a feasible programme to roll out in the UK.
Reader views (5)
You don't need to pump up profits for the NHS coffers, because the claim is this is 'preventative' medicine. You therefore save shed loads of money on treatment, so the theory goes. More for the NHS managers to squander on their half baked schemes. However, Gord knows this will not be adopted by NICE or anyone else in HM Govt because it may mean we are not taxed as much and that would never do.
- Al, Kingstown UK, 31/03/2009 15:29
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Squiz, I hope you have private medical insurance! Although the drugs proposed for these combination pills are still manufactured by the big pharma companies, if you have prescribed them on the NHS they will be generics made (cheaper) by companies like Dr. Reddy or Teva. I take them, I've had no problems, they work. As for aspirin and folic acid, you can buy those at Boots!
- Nigel, London, 31/03/2009 14:20
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We need to know the long term effects (10/20 yrs)of this "pollypill".
- Herbert Henry, Kingston, Jamaica, 31/03/2009 13:56
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Do these fools take it the the whole UK Population is crackers? Break these five meds down and in each you will find several good reasons not to take them, let alone, taking them for an illness you do not have and might never have! Take, the far too frequently used, Simvastatin. Use this long term and it brings it's own inventory of effects you might otherwise meet.
OK, Gov will save money! At what price? Why medicate for an illness you do not have? Preventative? I'm not so sure.
- Maria, London, 31/03/2009 12:50
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I wouldn't be happy taking a pill on such a regular basis unless it was made by GSK or another of the big pharmaceuticals. The trouble with drugs from emerging market countries is their quality control. If the Chinese can happily export a leather sofa capable of killing who would trust a drug from Bhopal ? GSK and the big boys aren't going to make it as not enough profit in it. HMG should agree state manufacture under license - charge a pound a day - and pump the profits into NHS coffers.
- Squiz, Islington, 31/03/2009 11:49
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