• Is It Time For a Polypill?

Taking a combination of medications for your heart may be more beneficial than taking a single drug, according to a study in BMJ. The researchers followed 13,029 men and women diagnosed with coronary heart disease between 1996 and 2003, to look at how the medications they were taking affected their lifespan. They found that individuals who took a combination of aspirin, a statin, and a beta blocker had an 83% lower risk of dying, compared with those not taking any medications. That compared with a 47% reduced risk in those taking a statin alone, 41% with aspirin alone, and 19% with a beta-blocker alone.

Other drug combinations also fared better than a single drug. For example, a statin plus an ACE inhibitor plus aspirin cut the chances of dying by 71%; a four-drug combination—a statin, a beta-blocker, an ACE inhibitor, and aspirin—reduced the risk by 75%. Many doctors recommend more than one medication for their patients with coronary heart disease, and pharmaceutical companies are working on “polypills,” which combine commonly used medications into a single pill. These polypills would be more convenient and possibly cost less than taking the medications individually.

And speaking of polypills …

• The Power of Psyllium Plus a Statin

If you’re taking a statin drug to lower your cholesterol level, try adding a soluble fiber supplement to the mix and you might get even more of a benefit. That was the conclusion reached by researchers at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, who studied 68 people with high cholesterol levels. In the study, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, these volunteers were given either 10 mg or 20 mg of the statin Zocor (simvastatin) daily plus a placebo, or 10 mg of Zocor daily plus a psyllium supplement (Metamucil, 5 grams 3 times a day).

After eight weeks of treatment, the participants taking 10 mg of Zocor plus psyllium experienced a 36% decrease in LDL cholesterol, which was equal to the LDL-lowering effect of 20 mg of Zocor alone. By comparison, LDL levels decreased by 31% in those who received 10 mg of Zocor plus a placebo. The addition of psyllium had no additive effect on lowering triglycerides or increasing HDL cholesterol levels. No serious side effects occurred when psyllium was added to the statin regimen.

This study suggests that you might be able to take a lower dose of your statin drug if you add a psyllium supplement. A lower statin dose could mean fewer and less severe side effects. However, never change the dose of your statin medication without first consulting your doctor.