A cholesterol-lowering statin drug administered to people who have normal cholesterol can cut their risk of stroke, heart attacks and death by almost 50 percent, according to the findings of a new study.

In a clinical trial involving 18,000 patients in 26 countries, AstraZeneca's cholesterol fighter Crestor (also known as rosuvastatin), proved its wffectiveness in reducing stroke, heart attack, need for bypass or angioplasty procedures and cardiovascular death by 45 percent over less than 24 months.

All participants in the study, which appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine, had very good cholesterol levels, with average Low-density lipoprotein (bad cholesterol) levels of 108 and average high-density lipoprotein (good cholesterol) levels of 49, researchers said.

However, every single participant had elevated levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), a phase protein produced by the liver and by adipocytes that points to an inflammation in the body and can be a factor in the development of coronary heart disease, a condition in which plaque builds up inside the coronary arteries.

Since people who took AstraZeneca's drug were also almost 50 percent less prone to suffer a stroke, need angioplasty or bypass surgery, and were about 20 percent less prone to pass away, researchers decided to discontinue the clinical trial of Crestor after less than 2 years, although it was supposed to last no less than 5 years.

About 7.4 million Americans have CRP and cholesterol levels similar to those of people in the aforementioned study.

In accordance with some analysts’ view, the JUPITER’s results open statin Crestor to an extended group of new patients, and may be considered as a sign to considerable sales jump. UBS analyst Gbola Amusa said in a note that sales of the cholesterol-fighting drug could jump to over $7 billion in 2012, from $2.7 billion in 2007.

How widely testing for CRP is adopted is a major factor in this change, said David Brennan, Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca. A series of studies conducted in the past have associated levels of the protein with heart disease. However, there are few doctors currently testing for CRP. "For all the excitement, we need to remind ourselves that we are only at the starting gate with" CRP, Brennan said.

The pharmaceutical company will have to wait to promote the drug for use in people with elevated CRP until an update of the prescription label receives the Food and Drug Administration approval. AstraZeneca announced that it will ask for the change in the first months of the coming year.

The CRP blood test will probably revolutionize cardiac practice, according to Dr. Deepak Srivastava, director of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease at UC San Francisco. Most likely, it will “become part of the panels that are routinely done. The study provides pretty compelling evidence that even if people have normal cholesterol levels, then they would benefit from statins if they have signs of increased inflammation.”