The PILL pilot trial (2)
This morning, together with my wife, I made a second visit to the International Centre for Circulatory Health at St Mary’s Hospital at Paddington in London to be considered for participation in a pilot trial for a “polypill” to treat people at raised risk of cardiovascular disease such as as heart attack or stroke.
We had our blood pressure tested another three times and then all the data from the two visits was fed into a computer to assess our suitability for the trial. My wife was judged too healthy for inclusion, but I was judged to have a marginal level of risk that justified me being in the trial. So I was given a packet of pills which I have to take each day at dinner time. Of course, I don’t know whether I’m taking the real pill or a placebo and indeed nobody will know that until the conclusion of the 12-week trial.