"Polypill" made from 5 drugs may cut heart & stroke disease

The WebMD article I just read is upbeat about a new 5-in-1 pill that may be effective without costing much.  Is that even thinkable in today's world?

  WebMD's Charlene Raimo writes:

---

A "polypill" combining five heart drugs -- three blood-pressure-lowering drugs, a cholesterol-lowering statin drug, and aspirin -- is safe and works as well as any of the medications alone, researchers report.

The single capsule, taken just once a day, has the potential to slash the average person's risk of heart disease and stroke by about half, says study researcher Salim Yusuf, MD, of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

"Since each component of the polypill can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by 25%, [it's reasonable to expect that] you can get at least twice that improvement with five components," he tells WebMD.

---

"Also, the drug will be inexpensive, as all five of its components are available in generic form," says James Stein, MD, a heart specialist at University of Wisconsin.

Other experts recommend, instead, changed lifestyle approaches and remind readers that a combination pill may not have the same effect on all groups of people.

See full story here.

Aspirin

Aspirin reduces overall cancer and mortality rates - Reuters Health, by Megan Rauscher.   This is a story on findings reported Apr 16 at the annual gathering of American Association for Cancer Research by Dr. Aditya Bardia of Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
    It should be pointed out this is a study of 22,507 postmenopausal women in the Iowa Women's Health Study who were followed for up to 12 years.
    Excerpts:

"The regular use of aspirin, but not other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), is associated with a reduced incidence of cancer and cancer-related death, particularly among former smokers and those who never smoked.

NSAIDs include commonly used analgesic drugs, such as ibuprofen and naproxen, that are usually available over-the-counter.

'Our ... study ... looked at the association between aspirin and non-aspirin use, and overall cancer incidence and mortality, in a comprehensive fashion, and also evaluated the results by smoking status,' the lead researcher said.

Regular aspirin use, compared with no aspirin use, was associated with a 16-percent lower risk of cancer and a 13-percent lower risk of cancer death, the team reported.

The inverse association between aspirin use and the risk of cancer and cancer-related death was strongest among former smokers and those who never smoked compared with current smokers, although this fell short of statistical significance.

Aspirin use also appeared to protect patients against coronary heart disease and the overall mortality rate.

NSAID use, on the other hand, was not associated with cancer incidence or death, heart-disease death, or mortality from any cause. ...