Scientists from America have discovered that a leading anti-cholesterol drug, rosuvastatin, may also lower the risk of blood clots and deep-vein thrombosis. A study has showed that the medicine, marketed as Crestor, reduces the chances of venous thromboembolism (VTE), forms of which include DVT and pulmonary embolisms, by 43% in healthy people.
Pulmonary embolisms are the most common preventable cause of death in hospital patients, while estimates suggest that each year 25,000 people die from blood clots. An MPs report in 2007 said that less than half of all patients admitted to hospital are aware of the risks and VTE accounted for around 10% of all hospital deaths, costing the NHS £640 million.
Lead researcher Dr Paul Ridker has said that statin therapy as a treatment for potential clots is particularly exciting as it is not associated with excess bleeding, an occasional side-effect of commonly used blood thinners like warfarin. The medical director of the British Heart Foundation has welcomed the research, saying that “further clinical trials are now needed to see if patients at high risk of a DVT are protected by statins. If they are, the findings could lead to such patients being prescribed statins to protect them in the future”.
The researchers from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, based their study on data gathered from 17,802 healthy individuals. Their findings were presented at the American College of Cardiology Conference and are being published in the New England Journal of Medicine.