(November 9, 2008)--A cholesterol drug dramatically lowers the risk of heart attack in people normally not considered to be at high risk, a large new study finds.
The results, reported Sunday at an American Heart Association conference, are being hailed as a watershed event in heart disease prevention.
The study found that people with low cholesterol and no big risk for heart disease dramatically lowered their chances of dying or having a heart attack if they took Crestor.
Doctors said the study might lead as many as 7 million more Americans to consider taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, but some caution that treatment could cost up to $9 billion a year for people who have relatively few heart attacks to begin with.
Statins have already been shown to cut the risk of heart attacks and death in people with high