Dr Reddy's polypill halves heart risk in trial
An international trial of Dr Reddy's four-in-one combination pill designed to ward off heart problems has found it can halve the risk of heart disease and stroke.
An international trial of Dr Reddy's four-in-one combination pill designed to ward off heart problems has found it can halve the risk of heart disease and stroke.
The trial tested the effectiveness and tolerability of the so-called "polypill" in 378 people who had a raised risk of heart disease but did not necessarily have high blood pressure or cholesterol.The results, published in the Public Library of Science (PLoS) One journal on Wednesday, were "very encouraging", said Anthony Rodgers of The George Institute for Global Health in New Zealand, who led the study."A halving in heart disease and stroke can be expected for people taking this polypill long-term," he said.But the researchers said the benefits of the polypill, while large, were not as big as previous studies had suggested, and the side effects were also not as rare as first thought.In the short term, around one in six people in the trial experienced side effects, they said. Although most were mild, about one in 20 people stopped treatment because of them.This suggests the polypill might be best targeted at people with a raised heart disease risk, they said, since the benefits would be more likely to outweigh the side-effect risk.The once-a-day polypill contains four established drugs -- aspirin, a cholesterol-lowering medication called simvastatin, and two other medicines known to lower blood pressure.The medicines are currently prescribed separately to millions of patients and are known to significantly cut the risk of disease, but many experts think combining them into a single pill might encourage people to take the medicines more reliably.Simon Thom of Imperial College London, who led the British arm of the trial, said in a telephone interview that the side effects seen were no greater than would be expected in patients taking this combination of medicines as separate pills."We now need to conduct larger trials to test whether these medicines are best provided in the form of a polypill, or as separate medicines, and whether this combination strategy improves patient adherence," he said.According to the World Health Organisation, heart disease, stroke and other types of cardiovascular disease are the world's biggest killers, cutting short around 17 million lives a year.Early excitement about potential benefits of polypills was driven in part by a team of British scientists who said in 2003 that if everyone over the age of 55 in developed countries took a polypill, heart disease risk could be cut by up to 80 percent.Otavio Berwanger of Sao Paolo's Hospital do Coracao, who led the Brazilian arm of this study, said it heralded "a more balanced, measured approach than the initial hype around the polypill"."This polypill won't reduce heart disease and stroke by 80%, 'only' by 50%," he said in a statement. "It is not a panacea, just a really promising part of an overall package" that should also include measures to cut heart disease risk caused by smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise.People from Britain, Australia, Brazil, India, New Zealand, The Netherlands, and the United States took part in this trial. Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
