One pill fits all - five drugs combined could halve heart attacks and strokes

A COCKTAIL of drugs in one pill could slash heart disease and strokes by a half, research suggests.

A study into the new "polypill", which combines five drugs including aspirin, a statin to lower cholesterol, folic acid and two blood pressure-lowering medicines, claims if it were given to healthy middle-aged people it would dramatically reduce the number diagnosed every year.

The drug, Polycap, was manufactured cheaply by an Indian generics company Cadila Pharmaceuticals, and was tested on 412 volunteers. Scientists compared the results with those of patients who took each component separately.

They found that the combined action of all the ingredients together worked to lower both cholesterol and blood pressure more effectively than taking just one of the drugs on its own.

Professor Malcolm Law, from the Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine in London, one of the pioneers of the treatment, said it was an affordable solution which would greatly reduce NHS expenditure on doctors' appointments and treatment.

"These drugs are off-patent and cost pennies," he said. "You might be talking in terms of 50p a day. It's not going to make megabucks for anyone but it's a public health thing.

"We have long advocated the polypill as a safe and effective way of greatly reducing the incidence of heart attacks and strokes in the population." The concept of a polypill for everyone over 55 was mooted over five years ago, but progress has been slow.

Professor Law said this new trial had revealed the pill has the desired effects and is safe and well-tolerated by those who take it. Critics have questioned the ethics of taking a pill instead of changing an unhealthy lifestyle.

Mike Rich of The Blood Pressure Association charity said: "Eating healthily and taking regular exercise are proven ways to lower high blood pressure and have many other health benefits too - and there is a danger that these lifestyle factors could be overlooked in favour of 'popping a pill'."

A spokeswoman for the British Heart Foundation said the pill warranted further investigation to see if it was a feasible programme to roll out in the UK.