Statins are the new aspirin, Oxford researchers say

Results of the world's largest trial into the effects of cholesterol lowering therapy show that routine use of cholesterol lowering drugs in patients at high risk of vascular disease reduces the incidence of heart attacks and strokes by a third, even in people whose cholesterol concentration is normal.

Professor Rory Collins, lead investigator of the Heart Protection Study (HPS) and codirector of Oxford University's Clinical Trial Service Unit, declared statins to be the new aspirin, when he presented the findings at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2001 this week.

“This is …