Statins have long been prescribed for people diagnosed with
high levels of bad cholesterol in order to lower their risk for heart disease. The
drugs work by blocking the enzyme HMG-CoA-reductase, which the body needs to
make cholesterol.
However, new research shows that statins could prevent heart
disease in people having normal or lower cholesterol levels as well. Jupiter,
as the study was called, found that people with normal level of cholesterol but
high levels of the protein called CRP who took Crestor were 50 percent less likely
to suffer a stroke, need angioplasty or bypass surgery. Also, they were 20
percent less likely to die of a heart attack or stroke.
Paul
Ridker, MD, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at
Brigham and Women's Hospital and lead author of the study, said that
having normal cholesterol levels does not necessarily mean that you don’t need
statins.
The measure,
if put into practice, could save million of lives, considering the fact that
heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Of course,
the measure would also increase sales of statins, which are already top-selling
drugs in the