Colchicine is an inexpensive new treatment for coronary heart disease that is both safe and effective in select patients
Cardiovascular disease imposes a major burden on Australians and the Australian health care system. Due to campaigns to reduce smoking and the widespread use of effective lipid‐lowering therapy, there has been a significant decline in the death rate from cardiovascular disease over several decades.1 However, nearly 600 000 patients are hospitalised each year with cardiovascular disease, at a cost to the community of over $4 billion in 2018–19.1 Patients with coronary heart disease face an ongoing risk of cardiovascular events even when their lipid‐lowering and antithrombotic therapy is optimal. Thus, to reduce morbidity in these patients, there is a need for doctors to employ additional therapies that are effective, safe, readily available and cost‐efficient for this purpose. In the past decade, increasing evidence has accrued suggesting that there are cardiovascular benefits associated with adding colchicine 0.5 mg daily to lipid‐lowering and antithrombotic therapy for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease.2
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We have received funding from the Australian Government Department of Health, the National Health and Medical Research Council (GNT0211980, GNT0353669, GNT1088455, GNT1127159, GNT1187193), and the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Research Advisory Committee (NM 2014). Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Western Australia, as part of the Wiley ‐ The University of Western Australia agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.
Aspen Pharmacare Australia provided colchicine and matching placebo for the Australian arm of the LoDoCo2 trial.