Experts say everyone over 50 in the UK should be taking a daily pill that slashes cholesterol and blood pressure, and reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The researchers say the pill could cut 80 per cent of the heart attacks and strokes suffered in the UK every year.
The four-in-one pill would combine common medication millions already take – include statins and calcium blockers. A team led by University College London has published a report inthe British Medical Journal saying the NHS could prescribe the pills for as little as 30p a time.
Prof Sir Nicholas Wald said in the report: “We have the means to prevent most heart attacks and strokes — many more than are currently being prevented.The status quo is not a justifiable option.”
His programme combines the drugs rosuvastatin, hydrochlorothiazide, amlopidine and losartan. It claims to lower the risk of a heart attack or stroke by two thirds.
Almost two million people in other UK have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease and it is a leading cause of death. There are more than 100,000 strokes in the UK each year – one every five minutes.
The number is forecast to increase 50% in the next 10 years.Cardiovascular diseases account for over 150,000 deaths annually in the UK, representing more than a quarter (26%) of all deaths
As of 2023/24, approximately 5.3 million people in England were prescribed NICE-recommended statins or ezetimibe by their GPs to manage cholesterol levels.
The British Heart Foundation estimates that 7 to 8 million adults in the UK are taking statins. An analysis by the NHS Business Services Authority revealed that in 2023, there were 65 million prescriptions for atorvastatin in England, a 10% increase from the previous year, along with nearly 30 million more for other cholesterol-lowering drugs.