NHS should give statins to ALL people over 50 to reduce heart attacks and strokes by 1,000s, scientists say
Thousands of heart attacks and strokes could be prevented by offering people over 50 a daily pill, experts say.
Currently the NHS provides a health check for those in this age group every five years – but this system could now be replaced.
A single ‘polypill’ has been found to slash the number of heart attacks and strokes in older people by as much as a third, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
The tablet contains a statin and a combination of three blood pressure-lowering drugs.
Researchers said that the pill could replace the NHS’s five-yearly health assessment for adults aged between 40 and 74 to assess their cholesterol and heart health.
If implemented this could be a major policy initiative for the Labour government, which intends to push the NHS towards preventative medicine.
The evidence base behind the polypill approach is widely accepted as ‘sufficient as a strategy for the primary prevention of heart attacks and strokes’, according to the BMJ.
Thousands of heart attacks and strokes could be prevented by offering people over 50 a daily pill, experts say (stock image)
Professor Aroon Hingorani (pictured), co-author of the study, said that the ‘status quo is not a justifiable option’ for sufficiently preventing disease in Britain
A single ‘polypill’, combining a statin and three blood pressure-lowering drugs, has been found to slash the number of heart attacks and strokes in older people by as much as a third, according to research published in The Lancet (stock image)
Professor Aroon Hingorani, co-author of the study, said that the ‘status quo is not a justifiable option’ for sufficiently preventing disease in Britain.
The existing preventative measure tests the over-forties for high cholesterol and blood pressure as well as signs of heart disease and prescribes preventative drugs as needed.
Hingorani told The Times: ‘Now is the time to do much better on prevention. A population-wide approach could prevent many more heart attacks and strokes than the current strategy.’
A programme prescribing the polypill is only expected to require 8 per cent of those eligible in Britain to opt for the pill to achieve a greater benefit than the health check.
A 2003 paper, cited by Hingorani and his co-author Professor Sir Nicholas Wald, estimated that a polypill for over-55s could prevent about 80 per cent of heart attacks and strokes.
Results from a randomised controlled trial revealed that when older adults took a polypill for five years, their risk of major cardiovascular events was reduced by about a third.
The authors suggested a trial run in the UK where costs and uptake of the treatment could be assessed.
Heart attacks and strokes rise with age and make a major contribution to increasing healthcare costs.
In the UK more than 7 million people are living with cardiovascular disease.
Around 100,000 people have a heart attack and more than 100,000 people have a stroke every year.
