MED: 'Superpill' may cut heart disease: study
31 Mar 2009 5:10 AM
Subject: MED: 'Superpill' may cut heart disease: study MED: 'Superpill' may cut heart disease: study
ORLANDO, Florida, March 30 AFP - Healthy people may be able to cut their risk of heart disease in half by taking a "super pill" combining three drugs to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, a study said on Monday.
The pill, which combines low doses of aspirin and two drugs to lower blood pressure and fight cholesterol, was compared to eight other therapies in the three-month study involving 2,053 patients in India.
"The thought that people might be able to take a single pill to reduce multiple cardiovascular risk factors has generated a lot of excitement. It could revolutionise heart disease prevention as we know it," said principal researcher Salim Yusuf.
The Indian Polycap Study (TIPS) was the first to evaluate how well the polypill is tolerated and whether it leads to meaningful changes in the body that can cause cardiovascular disease.
Carried out by the St. John's Medical College, Bangalore, the study recruited patients from 50 heart centers between March 2007 and August 2008.
They found that by taking the pill healthy individuals may be able to cut their risk of cardiovascular disease by 50 to 60 percent.
"This trial is a critical first step to inform the design of larger, more definitive studies, as well as further development of appropriate combinations of BP lowering drugs with statins and aspirin," said Yusuf.
The researchers found that the patients taking the polypill showed significant falls in cholesterol levels as well as in blood pressure.
The study, which will also be published in The Lancet, was unveiled at the 58th conference of the American College of Cardiology which has been meeting since Saturday in Orlando, Florida.
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MED: 'Superpill' may cut heart disease: study