All-in-one pill helps reduce blood pressure, cholesterol
A single pill containing low doses of three medications to treat high blood pressure and one to lower cholesterol reduced the estimated risk of cardiovascular disease by 25%, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
“Polypills” for prevention of cardiovascular disease have previously been studied in low- and middle-income countries where other health care barriers exist, according to senior author Thomas Wang, MD, chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
But the U.S. study of mostly low income, primarily black adults from a community health center in Mobile, Alabama, sets up a conversation about how to extend these findings to other settings.