The Science Behind One Magical Little Pill

Herb Hunter

Wouldn’t it be great if one pill could cure everything?

While a pill to cure every illness known to man is still in the planning stages, a pill that could prevent a wide variety of chronic illnesses has been researched and is showing some promise.

The "polypill" is an inexpensive combination of five ingredients, designed to reduce blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and heart disease. It is taken once a day, and in a preliminary study was shown to lower a patient’s risk of heart attack by 62 percent and lower the incidence of stroke by 48 percent. Does this sound too good to be true?

Originally developed as a way of simplifying doses of multiple medications, it is now believed to be a cost-effective method of saving millions of lives. Remarkably, this panacea pill does not contain the fruits of cutting edge technology or chemicals more costly than gold, but rather, traditional, simple medication.

The first ingredient in this cornucopia of wellness is a familiar product available on drug store shelves. Eighty-one milligrams of low-dose aspirin, formerly known as baby aspirin, leads the list of ingredients in the polypill. While the benefits of aspirin in reducing the risk of heart attacks are well documented, it also serves as a blood thinner, decreasing the rate of blood platelet coagulation, lowering the risk of stroke.

Next, the polypill features a cholesterol lowering medication, also known as a "statin" drug, usually Zocor (simvastatin). Again, the benefits of lower cholesterol, as a method of improving cardiovascular health, have been well documented, and the polypill incorporates this with the aspirin.

The final three ingredients are all used to lower blood pressure through different mechanisms. A beta-blocker, Tenormin (atenolol), lowers blood pressure by decreasing heart rate and causing direct vasodilatation of the arteries and veins. An angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, Altace (ramipril), treats hypertension by acting on a mechanism in the kidney. Finally, a diuretic is added, (Diuril (thiazide) was used in the study.) to decrease blood pressure by eliminating excess fluids from the body and decreasing the volume of fluid in the bloodstream.

Some versions of the polypill contain a sixth ingredient, folic acid, which has been shown to reduce levels of homocysteine in the bloodstream, yet another risk factor for coronary artery disease.

Heightening interest in the polypill is a recent study from India, involving two thousand participants with at least one heart disease risk factor. The trial lasted twelve weeks, and assigned subjects to nine groups, with about two hundred people in each group. One group took the polypill, while the other eight groups took selected compounds from the polypill individually.

Those that took the polypill experienced many positive health benefits. Blood pressures dropped, with systolic blood pressures (the top number) decreasing by about seven millimeters of mercury and diastolic blood pressures (the bottom number) dropping by about six millimeters of mercury, about the same as participants given the blood pressure medications alone. Additionally, the polypill group realized decreases in bad cholesterol of about 23 percent, compared to a 28 percent drop in the group that took simvastatin alone. While the drop in cholesterol was greater in the single medication group, statistically they were about the same, and the polypill group benefited from decreased blood pressure, as well. Again, the global vision for the polypill as a single, once-daily dosed medication, is to provide an inexpensive method of dramatically lowering the risk of heart disease and stroke on a world-wide scale, the exact opposite of traditional, individualized approaches to health care.

Moreover, since participants tolerated the polypill well, experienced very few side effects, and found compliance much easier with the once-a-day dosing, use on a global scale may one day be realized.

Of course, the polypill does not replace proper diet and exercise, but may soon be incorporated into an overall approach to good health.

Now, if they could only make a pill to fix my recent Individual Retirement Account losses. Oh, well, with or without the polypill, most of us will be working a bit longer than we had anticipated before the economy turned sour. I just planned on reaching a comfortable retirement before I was 90 years of age!

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