If eligible, you can request a prescription for our preventive medication here on polypill.com. There is no need to go to a chemist. After you complete our online assessment one of our doctors will, if there is no contra-indication, issue a prescription in your name. This prescription will then be immediately forwarded to our partner pharmacist who will dispatch your medication by mail to your preferred delivery address.
We will send you a reminder email when your medication is expected to run out. If there are no reasons to discontinue the medication our doctors will issue a follow-up prescription and make arrangements for further supply of your medication to be delivered to you.
You can contact our doctors anytime by sending us a message through your online patient record or speak to us on 020 7600 3205.
Yes, provided we obtain your agreement we will send a standard letter to your GP so that he or she is made aware of the medication you are taking. We will not share any of your information without your consent.
Yes, it should be taken each day to obtain the full expected effect.
There is no need to double up at the next dose, simply continue with the next single dose at the usual time – there are no ill effects from missing a single dose.
Indefinitely. It is necessary to continue taking the pills to maintain the preventive effect.
The pills can be taken at any time of day.
Preventive medication using the components of the Polypill Programme has been researched internationally for over 20 years and there is conclusive evidence for their health benefits.
Side effects are uncommon. Some people may experience minor discomfort such as having to urinate more frequently, muscle aches, ankle swelling and dizziness. Serious side effects are extremely rare. Symptoms, if they do occur, resolve on stopping. Our doctors are willing to discuss any potential side effects with you.
Yes, you will benefit. Most heart attacks and strokes occur in people who do not have raised values. Even if your blood pressure and cholesterol are within the range often described as “normal”, there is a health benefit in reducing them: “the lower, the better”.
Yes. People under 50 are not eligible. If you already have cardiovascular disease it would be better to take a different combination of medications, including aspirin. People already taking medicines that are in the preventive medication provided in our programme are not eligible. People with certain diseases should not take one or several of the component medications; these are heart failure, diseases of the aortic valve, active liver disease, porphyria, chronic renal failure requiring dialysis, stenosis of a renal artery, and a history of angioedema. People who have previously taken one of the four classes of medication and developed side effects should avoid taking it again.
Yes. There is about a one third reduction in the occurence of headaches.
If you become pregnant whilst taking these pills, you should stop taking them immediately and contact our Polypill doctors or your GP for advice.
No specific tests are required. The selection for primary preventive medication is based on age alone in the absence of contraindications, since age is the most important determinant of a person's risk of a first heart attack or stroke
If you are invited to your GP for an NHS "Health Check" screening examination you should remind your GP that you are taking the preventive medication even if he or she had been informed that you are participating in the Polypill Prevention Programme.