The 'Spanish' polypill reduces cardiovascular mortality by 33% in patients treated after a heart attack

• Cardiology More faithful to treatment with the cardiac polypill

After suffering a heart attack, patients are usually prescribed medication to control their high blood pressure and cholesterol levels and to prevent the possible formation of clots.

Until now, these drugs had to be taken separately, but the evidence on the advantages of combining these treatments in a single tablet is increasing.

New research shows that the

developed by the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) and Ferrer Laboratories significantly reduces the risk of suffering a new serious heart problem as well as mortality from cardiovascular causes compared to conventional therapy.

Previously, this treatment had already demonstrated its ability to improve adherence to therapy.

The details of the investigation, called SECURE, are published in the

, coinciding with its presentation at the European Congress of Cardiology, which is being held these days in Barcelona.

This polypill contains in the same presentation

(aspirin),

(for cholesterol) and

(an inhibitor of the angiotensin converting enzyme -ACEI- that is used to control hypertension and stabilize coronary arteries).

"The results are very spectacular and, for the first time, show that the polypill achieves clinically relevant reductions in recurrent cardiovascular events in patients who have suffered a myocardial infarction", emphasizes Valentín Fuster, director of the CNIC and principal investigator of the study.

The cardiologist has been working on the polypill project for more than 15 years and believes that the results are key so that

The investigation, phase III;

has followed up for an average of three years

(Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic) who had suffered a heart attack in the previous six months.

31% were women and the average age was 76 years.

Randomly, part of the participants were assigned polypill treatment (with different compositions, depending on their needs) while the rest were treated with conventional therapy, with different tablets for each treatment).

The follow-up of the participants showed that the appearance of new cardiovascular problems, such as heart attacks or strokes, was less frequent in the group treated with the polypill (9.5%) compared to those who received conventional medication (12.7%). .

"Especially relevant are the effects of the polypill on one of the most determining variables, the incidence of cardiovascular death, which

", has indicated the CNIC in a statement.

The study also showed that adherence to treatment among patients treated with the polypill was greater than that of the rest, which confirms previous evidence.

Precisely this greater adherence to treatment, the fact that patients treated with the polypill are more faithful to the medication, is, for Fuster, one of the keys that explain its benefits when it comes to preventing new cardiovascular events.

"Treatment is simplified and adherence is improved

," explains the cardiologist, who also recalls the presentation's good profile in terms of cost-effectiveness.

"15 years ago we began to explore how to improve adherence to medication after having suffered a heart attack. The development has been complicated, we have worked on at least 50 polypills, but the results speak for themselves," says Fuster.

The accumulated evidence on the usefulness of the polypill refers to its use in secondary prevention, after a heart attack,

, when it comes to preventing a serious cardiovascular problem, recalls the cardiologist.

This CNIC and Ferrer polypill has already received the approval of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Those responsible for it now hope to start the procedures for its approval by the FDA, the agency that regulates medicines in the US.

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• Cardiology