Mar 31, 2009 7:19 pm US/Eastern
Heart Disease 'Polypill'
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The latest weapon against heart disease is a five-in-one medicine. A new study says such combination pills to prevent illnesses may be the wave of the future.
The single capsule combines five heart drugs: three blood pressure-lowering drugs, a cholesterol-lowering statin, and aspirin.
The "polypill" is being touted as nothing short of a miracle medication.
"One advantage is it's much easier for patients to take one pill than five different pills, and two, it's the cost. To put all of these into one combination pill will be cheaper than taking each of the pills separately," Dr. Marrick L. Kukin of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital said.
Research presented at the American College of Cardiology Conference shows the single pill, taken just once a day, can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by about half.
Research has shown the more pills a person has to take, the more likely they are to skip doses.
And for illnesses like high blood pressure and high cholesterol even one missed dose matters.
The polypill was tested in more than 2,000 people with one heart disease factor, such as obesity, high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Dr. Kukin, the hospital's 'heart failure program' director, says it may not work for everyone.
"The disadvantages of putting everything in one pill is that, one size does not necessarily fit all this five pill combination may be good for your cholesterol, but it may make your blood pressure too low," Kukin said.
And there is no replacement for a healthy lifestyle.
"We can't just look at taking a drug and saying, we're going to fix everything. We still have to have people stop smoking, we still have to have people lose weight, we still have to have people exercise. So you can't have your cake and eat it too, so to speak," Kukin said.
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