Cardiologists at the Montreal Heart Institute wondered whether the same anti-inflammatory compound could calm the inflamed plaques that cause heart attacks and strokes, not just swollen joints. They tested a low daily dose in thousands of patients who had recently had a heart attack.
The COLCOT trial randomized 4,745 patients to colchicine or placebo. Over a median of 22 months, those taking colchicine had a 23 percent lower rate of cardiovascular death, stroke, heart attack, or urgent artery-opening procedures, early evidence that targeting inflammation itself can protect the heart.
The result supported a theory cardiologists had debated for years, that clogged arteries are as much an inflammatory disease as a plumbing problem. Colchicine causes digestive side effects in some patients, and it has not been shown to reduce deaths from all causes, only specific cardiovascular events. Cardiology guidelines now list it as an option for secondary prevention, alongside statins and blood pressure drugs.
Read the original study
An ancient remedy found a new organ.
Source
- Tardif, J.-C., Kouz, S., Waters, D. D., Bertrand, O. F., Diaz, R., Maggioni, A. P., Pinto, F. J., Ibrahim, R., Gamra, H., Kiwan, G. S., Berry, C., López-Sendón, J., Ostadal, P., Koenig, W., Angoulvant, D., Grégoire, J. C., Lavoie, M.-A., Dubé, M.-P., Rhainds, D., . . . Roubille, F. (2019). Efficacy and Safety of Low-Dose Colchicine after Myocardial Infarction. New England Journal of Medicine, 381(26), 2497–2505. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1912388