The Era of Polypills in the Management of Cardiovascular Diseases: Are We There Yet?

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of mortality globally. Wald and Law proposed the idea of a "polypill"; a fixed dose combi-nation therapy (FDC) in the form of a single pill to curb the CVD epidemic. Such a drug would include the combination of a broad spectrum of drugs includ-ing cholesterol lowering drugs, antihypertensive drugs, antiplatelet drugs, anticoagulation drugs, and antiar-rhythmic drugs, which are frequently integrated to combat specific CVDs. This "polypill" holds the poten-tial to pose several advantages like increased compliance, improved quality of life, risk factor con-trol, psychological relief, and cost effectiveness along with minimal side effects. Several trials (like TIPS, UMPIRE, PolyIran, etc.) have tested different treat-ment strategies to test the hypothesis of Wald and Law. Unlike the past, physicians are now highly aware of this new strategy. The future of polypill in the man-agement of CVD lies in a strategy where polypills are treated supplementary to the already existing preven-tive care, which includes lifestyle modifications and efforts to reduce tobacco use.