All in one: Canadian pharmacologists create one pill for heart attacks and strokes

The Lancet magazine publishes a study by doctors from McMaster University in Canada, who proposed a prototype of a universal pill for cardiovascular problems, which scientists have been thinking about for decades. Reported by the Daily Mail.

Blood clots can be the cause of heart attacks and strokes. They arise due to the rupture of atherosclerotic plaques - a consequence of high cholesterol levels, or the activation of the blood coagulation system in response to vascular damage in hypertension. To prevent these problems all at once, you need to take a statin to lower cholesterol, a combination of drugs to lower high blood pressure, and aspirin to thin the blood and prevent blood clots.

Canadian researchers conducted an experiment. For five years, they followed 18,162 patients who took either a combination of pills, or a dummy, or nothing at all to avoid cardiovascular problems. During this time, among those who took a pacifier or did not take anything, 227 people, or 2.5%, died of cardiovascular diseases. Among those who took statins, blood pressure pills and aspirin - either alone or together - 144 people died, or 1.6%. Those who took the three-in-one had a 53% lower risk of heart attack and 51% lower risk of stroke. At the same time, gastrointestinal bleeding and peptic ulcer disease - a consequence of taking aspirin - occurred only slightly more often in those who took the pill.

The authors believe that taking such a combination drug is worth all people over 50 or 55 years old, and certainly those who are at risk of heart attack or stroke - that is, people with high blood pressure, diabetics, former and current smokers. Considering that approximately 70% of the world's adult population can be put in this category, such a pill would save millions.