“The polypill, being a very simple strategy that combines three essential treatments for this type of patient, has demonstrated its effectiveness because the improvement in adherence means that these patients are receiving better treatment and, therefore, have a lower risk of recurrent cardiovascular events”, states the researcher. José María Castellano of the HM Hospitales Research Foundation.
For the study, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Spain, the team examined 2,499 patients in seven European countries who had a history of type 1 myocardial infarction in the past six months and were aged 75 or older. 65 years of age with at least one risk factor, such as diabetes or mild or moderate kidney dysfunction.
The average age of the participants was 76 years, and 31 percent were women.
The study population included 77.9 percent with hypertension, 57.4 percent with diabetes and 51.3 percent with a history of smoking.
The researchers looked at the incidence of four major cardiovascular events: death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, and the need for emergency coronary revascularization (the restoration of blood flow through a blocked coronary artery).
The findings showed a 33 percent relative reduction, from 71 patients in the standard treatment group to just 48 in the polypill group.
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