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A four-in-one polypeptide that combines three blood pressure drugs with a cholesterol-lowering drug would reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by 20 to 40 percent, doctors from nine countries, including from Bengaluru.
Polypill can be consumed alone or with aspirin with varying benefits. If taken on its own, it can reduce the chances of a heart attack, stroke, or angioplasty by about 20%, but with aspirin those risks are reduced by 40%.
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The study was carried out on 5,714 patients at 89 centers in nine countries, including 39 centers in India over an eight-year period. The Indian phase of the trial was coordinated by St John’s Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru.
“A polypill is not only effective, it is also likely to be cost effective because it is based on the use of commonly used generic drugs,” said Prem Pais, co-principal investigator of the study and professor at St. John’s. Medical College and Research Institute.
Pais said polypill should “improve adherence” because it combines “several effective drugs in one pill and is taken once a day”.
The multi-drug pill combines cholesterol lowering simvastatin and atenolol; hydrochlorothiazide and ramipril. It can be combined with a daily dose of aspirin.
“This result is very encouraging,” said Balram Bhargava, director general of the Indian Council for Medical Research and former professor of cardiology at the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.
“This is another example of India’s contribution to world science. The polypill strategy is worth considering for widespread use. The costs can be further reduced for our people if and when it enters our programs. national. “
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As the most prevalent serious disease in the world, cardiovascular disease is responsible for 18 million deaths each year, over 80% of which are in low- and middle-income countries. In India, nearly 30% of all deaths and 15% of morbidities are caused by cardiovascular disease. The numbers have doubled since 1990.
“We could save millions of people from serious heart disease or stroke every year through the effective use of polypill and aspirin,” said Salim Yusuf, study co-principal investigator and professor. of Medicine at McMaster University in Canada.
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study in which participants took the drug for an average of 4.5 years, showed maximum benefits for those who took the drug continuously.
“Studies of this nature are very difficult to conduct because they involve many centers and participants need to be followed at least twice a year. In India, we recruited 49% of the total sample size. This has been possible for us because we have built a collaboration over two decades, ”said Denis Xavier, professor at St. John’s and head of the clinical research division.
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