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Polypill will not change prevention of heart disease

BMJ 2004; 329 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.329.7466.589-a (Published 09 September 2004) Cite this as: BMJ 2004;329:589
  1. Susan Mayor
  1. BMJ

    Claims that the “polypill”—a combination of a statin, three antihypertensive drugs, folic acid, and aspirin—will cause a major change in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease are flawed because they are extrapolated from evidence for the individual components, an epidemiologist claimed last week.

    Shah Ebrahim, professor of epidemiology of ageing at the University of Bristol, argued that there was only theoretical evidence for the additive effects of the components of the polypill and that it was unlikely to translate into clinical practice.

    Speaking at a debate at the recent European Society of Cardiology's annual meeting in Germany, …

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