Four-in-one heart disease pill may mean fewer tablets

A four-in-one pill created to reduce heart disease and strokes could help older people avoid taking so much medication.

Scientists have speculated that a “polypill” could replace the plethora of drugs needed by pensioners, but so far there have been no studies to suggest they are as effective as individual medicine.

Now new research, published in The Lancet, has shown that a pill combining aspirin, statins and two cholesterollowering drugs reduced the risk of major cardiovascular disease by 34 per cent. The trial by Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Iran, involved 6,841 people aged 55 and over who were living in 236 villages in northern Iran.

The villages were randomly divided into two groups, with one made up of 3,417 participants who were given general advice on diet, exercise and smoking.

The second group, containing 3,421 people, was given the same advice, but were also required to take a polypill each day. After five years, 202 people in the group that took the combination pill had suffered a heart attack or a stroke, compared with 301 in villages where only lifestyle advice was given.

Since 2001, several small, short-term studies have shown that a polypill could reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

However, some participants complained of dizziness, muscle pains or indigestion; however, these were said to be as common in those not taking the pill.

34pc The proportion by which the risk of major cardiovascular disease was reduced, according to the study into the ‘polypill’