Fixed-dose combination therapy (polypill) for the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Huffman MD., de Cates AN., Ebrahim S.

CLINICAL QUESTION: Is fixed-dose combination therapy (polypill) that combines antiplatelet, blood pressure-lowering, and cholesterol-lowering medications into a single pill associated with improved cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors or reduced all-cause mortality or fatal and nonfatal CVD events? Is the polypill associated with an increase in adverse events? BOTTOM LINE: Polypills are associated with greater reductions in systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol compared with usual care, placebo, or active comparators, but also with a 19% higher risk of any adverse event. Due to limited power from available evidence, the association of polypills with all-cause mortality or fatal and nonfatal CVD events is uncertain.

DOI

10.1001/jama.2014.13616

Type

Journal article

Journal

JAMA

Publication Date

19/11/2014

Volume

312

Pages

2030 - 2031

Keywords

Anticholesteremic Agents, Antihypertensive Agents, Aspirin, Cardiovascular Diseases, Humans, Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors

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