Heart Beat

Drug combinations best for heart disease

British researchers made a splash in 2003 when they suggested that everyone over age 55 should take a Polypill to prevent heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular conditions. This pill would contain aspirin, a cholesterol-lowering statin, the vitamin folic acid, and three blood pressure drugs — a diuretic, a beta blocker, and an ACE inhibitor.

Whether everyone needs this combination remains to be seen. Most of these drugs, though, clearly help people with heart disease. A report in the May 7, 2005, British Medical Journal suggests that the Polypill idea might be right for people with heart disease.