He added that the “standard” treatment in this trial was administered by highly specialized physicians in tertiary-care centers, making it a tough competitor, yet the simple polypill held its own.

Although feasibility has been demonstrated, Soliman explained that there are other important questions about the polypill that still need answers, such as: Which patient population should a polypill target: those who have not yet been diagnosed with CVD (primary prevention) or those who have a CVD diagnosis in their medical history (secondary prevention)? Also, what components should make up the pill and in what doses will they be most effective?

“There are many questions, but a single trial will never answer all of them,” Soliman said. “At least now we know that it is possible to begin looking for the answers.”

The study, published recently in Trials, was funded by World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva. Co-authors include Curt D. Furberg, M.D., Ph.D., of Wake Forest Baptist; Shanthi Mendis, M.D., of the WHO, Geneva; Wasantha P. Dissanayake, M.D., Noel P. Somasundaram, M.D., Padma S. Gunarantne, M.D., and I. Kumundini Jayasingne, M.D., of the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka.

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is a fully integrated academic medical center located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The institution comprises the medical education and research components of Wake Forest School of Medicine, the integrated clinical structure and consumer brand Wake Forest Baptist Health, which includes North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Brenner Children’s Hospital, the commercialization of research discoveries through the Piedmont Triad Research Park, as well a network of affiliated community based hospitals, physician practices, outpatient services and other medical facilities. Wake Forest School of Medicine is ranked among the nation’s best medicine schools and is a leading national research center in fields such as regenerative medicine, cancer, neuroscience, aging, addiction and public health sciences. Wake Forest Baptist’s clinical programs are consistently ranked as among the best in the country by U.S.News & World Report

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Source: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center