“Miracle heart pill for all”

Posted 22/07/2012

Everyone over 55 should take a “miracle pill” which could cut their risk of having a heart attack or a stroke by 80% according to researchers. The pill would combine aspirin, a cholesterol lowering drug, three blood pressure lowering drugs and folic acid.

Patients would have to have an initial check up from a doctor before they were prescribed the pill. It is estimated that 1 in 3 could gain up to 20 years of life without a heart attack or stroke through taking it. The pill could cost less than a pound a day and cause minimal side effects.

It could be given to people with existing high blood pressure, heart disease or diabetes to prevent them suffering further ill health. The UK researchers behind “polypill” claim “ it would have a greater impact on the prevention of disease in the Western world than any other intervention”. But they stress much more research needs to be carried out before the pill would be available to patients. Heart attacks, stroke and other preventable cardiovascular diseases currently kill or seriously affect half the British population.

Julie Crossley, a medical injury lawyer at Ashtons Legal comments: “This would obviously be very good news were research to confirm that a relatively inexpensive drug could prevent serious and costly illnesses. However, it is not a licence to lead an unhealthy lifestyle and it is unlikely to be available for some time”.