Panacea or excuse?

The impact of the polypill on CVD risk

The polypill – a single pill combining a number of generic drugs (including, for example, blood-pressure-lowering drugs, a statin, folic acid and aspirin) – was first suggested in an article in the BMJ nearly a decade ago. Now, the first results of trials on various combinations of polypill are being reported. In a timely C3 International Breakfast Seminar (click here >> for more details on the seminar and here >> for a report by Nigel Hawkes on the seminar in the BMJ), Dr Denis Xavier, the project director and co-author of TIPS (the Indian Polycap Study), spoke on the results of the first trial, which suggests that the risk of CVD could be reduced by as much as half among those taking the polycap, and subsequent trials.

An article in PLoS One (Wald et al.) reports on a randomised crossover trial in people aged over 50, and this has been widely reported in the UK media.  Blood pressure was reduced by 12 per cent and LDL cholesterol by 39 per cent, and Dr David Wald, co-author of the study, consultant cardiologist, commented that ‘If people took the polypill from age 50, an estimated 28% would benefit by avoiding or delaying a heart attack or stroke during their lifetime.’

At the C3 International Breakfast Seminar, concerns were raised that the polypill could be regarded as such a panacea that people might see it as an excuse to stop leading a healthy lifestyle – physical activity, for example, can also have very significant effects on health. But the polypill need not be an either/or – encouraging healthy living should always be integral to health-promotion efforts.

Sources: BBC News online, 18 July 2012; C3 International Breakfast Seminar, 13 July 2012; Hawkes, BMJ, 17 July 2012; Wald et al., PLoS One, July 2012.

-