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Polypills for cardiovascular prevention: a step forward?

The effect of a fixed-dose combination drug strategy ('polypill') on patients' adherence to medication was analysed in a series of 2,004 individuals with, or at high risk of, cardiovascular disease in the UMPIRE study. The polypill improved adherence by >20%, but the reduction in blood-pressure and cholesterol levels was modest.

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Correspondence to Valentin Fuster.

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The authors declare no competing interests. G. Sanz and V. Fuster are involved in designing and trialling a polypill with Ferrer Internacional (Barcelona, Spain).

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Sanz, G., Fuster, V. Polypills for cardiovascular prevention: a step forward?. Nat Rev Cardiol 10, 683–684 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2013.157

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