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Washington, May 26 : A new four-in-one combination pill can halve the predicted risk of heart disease and stroke, according to the world's first international trial of the drug.
The polypill contains aspirin and agents to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. These drugs are currently prescribed separately to millions of patients and are known individually to cut the risk of disease, but many experts believe that combining them into a single pill will encourage people to take the medications more reliably.
The trial tested the effectiveness and tolerability of the polypill in 378 people with raised risk of cardiovascular disease.
"The results show a halving in heart disease and stroke can be expected for people taking this polypill long-term," said Professor Anthony Rodgers of The George Institute for Global Health, who led the international consortium.
The authors noted that the benefits, while large, were not as massive as previous researchers have suggested, and the side effects were also not as rare as first thought. In the short-term about 1 in 6 people experienced a side effect. Most were mild but about 1 in 20 overall stopped treatment due to side effects, indicating that treatment is best targeted to those at raised risk of disease.
Dr Ted Bianco, Director of Technology Transfer at the Wellcome Trust, commented: "Few of us would dissent from the view that prevention is better than cure in most matters medical.
"It is good news, indeed, to see the evidence base grow for the potential use of a new generation of combination products as a safe and affordable option in the battle against heart attack and stroke," he added.
The findings were recently published online in the open access journal PLoS One.
--ANI.
The polypill contains aspirin and agents to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. These drugs are currently prescribed separately to millions of patients and are known individually to cut the risk of disease, but many experts believe that combining them into a single pill will encourage people to take the medications more reliably.
The trial tested the effectiveness and tolerability of the polypill in 378 people with raised risk of cardiovascular disease.
"The results show a halving in heart disease and stroke can be expected for people taking this polypill long-term," said Professor Anthony Rodgers of The George Institute for Global Health, who led the international consortium.
The authors noted that the benefits, while large, were not as massive as previous researchers have suggested, and the side effects were also not as rare as first thought. In the short-term about 1 in 6 people experienced a side effect. Most were mild but about 1 in 20 overall stopped treatment due to side effects, indicating that treatment is best targeted to those at raised risk of disease.
Dr Ted Bianco, Director of Technology Transfer at the Wellcome Trust, commented: "Few of us would dissent from the view that prevention is better than cure in most matters medical.
"It is good news, indeed, to see the evidence base grow for the potential use of a new generation of combination products as a safe and affordable option in the battle against heart attack and stroke," he added.
The findings were recently published online in the open access journal PLoS One.
--ANI.
