The anti-inflammatory colchicine is powerful and cheap. It’s thought that, because cardiovascular problems often stem from inflammation, colchicine could help prevent secondary events after MI. That’s what Jean-Claude Tardif and an international group of colleagues set out to investigate.

The group reports in the NEJM that daily low-dose colchicine was associated with a lower rate of a composite endpoint than a placebo: death from cadiovascular causes, resuscitated cardiac arrest, MI, stroke, or urgent hospitalization leading to coronary revascularization.

New England Journal of Medicine report

Editorial commentary in NEJM

Harlan Krumholz’s tweet on the report

Running time: 20 minutes