Wednesday, April 01, 2009

'Polypill' could reduce heart disease, stroke: Researchers

This article mentions the polypill, but doesn't break down the ingredients. Here it is: atenolol 50mg, ramapril 5mg, ASA 100mg, simvastatin 20mg and hydrochlorothiazide 12.5mg.

From the Calgary Herald:
Canadian researchers say a single, daily pill combining five medicines could potentially cut by half the number of heart attacks and strokes in middle-aged people.

The pill — called Polycap — is a cocktail of three blood-pressure lowering drugs, Aspirin to reduce blood clotting and a cholesterol-lowering drug. In tests involving more than 2,000 people in India, each component of the pill did what it was supposed to do.

In addition, the Polycap was generally well tolerated. There was no evidence of increasing side effects with increasing number of active components in one pill.

The 12-week study wasn't designed to see whether the "polypill" actually reduced heart attacks, stroke and death. Larger numbers of people would need to be treated with a longer followup.

But the findings suggest the pill could potentially reduce cardiovascular heart disease by 62 per cent, and stroke by 48 per cent, researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton and St. John's Medical College in Bangalore, India write in the journal, The Lancet. The study is to be presented Tuesday at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Florida. ...more

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