Q & A Library

The "polypill"is an idea proposed by British researchers to protect against heart disease. It combines drugs to lower cholesterol and blood pressure with aspirin and folic acid in a single pill. (Folic acid is a B vitamin that lowers blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid associated with a higher risk of heart disease.) The two researchers who came up with this idea claim that if everyone over the age of 55 took the polypill daily, heart disease could be reduced by more than 80 percent.

The polypill strategy was put forth in an article published in the June 28, 2003, issue of the British Medical Journal. The researchers said that each component would reduce one of the major cardiovascular risk factors including high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high homocysteine levels. The aspirin would reduce inflammation as well as a tendency to form blood clots that could clog an artery, preventing the flow of blood to the heart and causing a heart attack.

While the polypill has generated a lot of publicity and comment, it has yet to be proven safe and effective. That has to happen before it can be introduced to the public, so for the time being we're talking about a theory, not fact.

Although I can see that a polypill would have wide appeal and might have some health benefits, I worry about it for several reasons. First, it fosters the notion that everything is treatable by drugs rather than by improving lifestyle. Second, the component drugs, especially statins and beta-blockers, have potentially serious side effects. For that matter, aspirin can cause gastrointestinal bleeding.