Interestingly, participants in this study, being presented at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., did not have elevated levels of LDL, or "bad," cholesterol, but they did have increased levels of the inflammatory marker called C-reactive protein (CRP). "This suggests that a statin has potential beneficial effects on the venous circulation, not just the arterial circulation," said Dr. Reducing the rate of blood clots in the veins, new research has found. In fact, another study, also being presented at the meeting, concluded that, besides lowering cholesterol, part of the success of statins in reducing cardiovascular events such as a heart attack can be attributed to the lowering levels of CRP. Both studies are based on data from the landmark JUPITER trial, sponsored. Lavie, medical director of cardiac rehabilitation at the Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans. -- In addition to dramatically reducing the incidence of heart attacks and stroke, the cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor appears to have another important benefit.

Lavie, who was not involved with the study, cautioned, however, that "this data is probably not powerful enough to use statins just for this reason." The findings also suggest that statins may derive some of their benefit from their effect on C-reactive protein.