Early Use of Cholesterol Drug Boosts Outcomes After Angioplasty

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Patients got either 40 milligrams of Crestor daily or a placebo, and the researchers tracked carotid plaque levels over two years using high-tech ultrasound.

According to the study, daily Crestor treatment "slowed progression" of artery thickening in this important vessel "at all sites and each segment" tested.

"Carotid artery thickness is a good predictor of who's going to have a heart attack as well as a stroke," Bonow noted. "This (study) is further demonstrating that these drugs are very beneficial, because it is reducing the amount of atherosclerosis in the carotid artery and presumably a lot of other arteries, too."

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He said the two studies add to the growing evidence that statin medications are an extremely useful therapy for preventing a wide range of cardiovascular ills.

But they are still not for everyone, Bonow said. "There is about a one percent risk of something bad happening with these drugs," he said. "So, you don't want to give them to everyone, because that one percent would add up to a lot of people."

More information

Find out more about statins at the American Heart Association.

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