GPs should be careful about prescribing cholesterol-busting drugs say researchers who found "unintended" side effects.

Apart from the various benefits reported for cholesterol-lowering statins, a new study shows the drug to be effective in treating multiple sclerosis (MS).

Scientists say a natural supplement made from tomatoes can stave off heart disease and strokes.

The tomato pill contains an active ingredient from the Mediterranean diet - lycopene - that blocks "bad" LDL cholesterol that can clog the arteries.

Ateronon, made by a biotechnology spin-out company of Cambridge University, is being launched as a dietary supplement and will be sold on the high street.

Taking cholesterol-lowering statins may be an effective way to keep the prostate healthy, research suggests.

Statins are currently used to lower cholesterol and help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

However, there is growing evidence that the drugs also prevent cancer cells from dividing, and may even cause some cancer cells to die.

For years, doctors have used cholesterol as the main measure of a person's heart health, but a new study suggests that testing for another substance in the blood may be just as important.

Aggressively lowering cholesterol as well as a substance in the blood known as C-reactive protein, or CRP, led to a greater reduction in heart attacks, strokes and deaths than cutting cholesterol alone, according to research presented at a cardiology meeting Sunday and published on the Web site of the medical journal The Lancet.

The study is the latest evidence suggesting that CRP testing should be done in large numbers of middle-aged people who normally would not be considered at risk for cardiovascular disease because their cholesterol levels are acceptable. It follows landmark research in November showing heart attacks and strokes were reduced in people with healthy cholesterol levels who substantially reduced levels of CRP in their blood by taking the cholesterol drug Crestor, one of the most potent statin drugs on the market.

A cholesterol-lowering medication can lower the risk of developing life-threatening blood clots in healthy individuals, a new study says.

US researchers suggest the most widely used cholesterol lowering drug, simvastatin, interferes with the individual's sleeping patterns.

According to a recent study, patients taking the statin drug Zocor or simvastatin do not sleep as well as individuals taking Pravachol or pravastatin.

The study concludes that as simvastatin is fat soluble, it can penetrate cell membrane especially the blood-brain barrier more easily.

Scientists believe insomnia affects the quality of life and result in health problems including weight gain and insulin resistance.

Cholesterol is critical to the normal function of every body cell. In addition, it contributes to the development of atherosclerotic plaques, leading to heart attacks, strokes or claudication.

By reducing cholesterol production, statins are able to slow the formation of new plaques and occasionally reduce the size of the existing ones.

The statins are widely used to treat dyslipidemias. They are generally associated with mild adverse effects, but rarely, more serious reactions may occur. A 51-year-old man experienced delayed-onset, progressive memory loss while receiving simvastatin for hypercholesterolemia. His therapy was switched to pravastatin, and memory loss resolved gradually over the next month, with no recurrence of the adverse effect.

Millions more healthy people could be put on cholesterol-lowering statin drugs after research showing they could benefit.

UK guidelines on cholesterol-busting drugs should be revisited after an international trial found benefits in "healthy" adults, experts say.

Dr Terry McCormack, a GP in Whitby, North Yorkshire, and ex-chairman of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society, said the results were "astonishing" and much stronger than he would have expected.

He added that NICE should redo their cost-effectiveness calculation on the basis of the latest figures.

Professor Peter Sever, an expert in clinical pharmacology at Imperial College in London, said the results backed other studies which had shown statins had the same proportional benefit however low an individual's cholesterol.

Drugs given to heart patients to lower cholesterol may have an additional benefit - keeping their blood vessels feeling younger.

Statins are the drugs prescribed to help protect healthy, but high-risk people from heart disease and prevent repeated problems in people who have already had a heart attack or stroke. There has been considerable media coverage of statins recently, so here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions:

The statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) form a class of hypolipidemic drugs used to lower cholesterol levels in people with or at risk of cardiovascular disease. They lower cholesterol by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which is the rate-limiting enzyme of the mevalonate pathway of cholesterol synthesis. Inhibition of this enzyme in the liver stimulates LDL receptors, resulting in an increased clearance of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) from the bloodstream and a decrease in blood cholesterol levels. The first results can be seen after one week of use and the effect is maximal after four to six weeks.

FDA officials have cautioned health-care specialists against prescribing simvastatin for patients who are also taking amiodarone.

Scientists have found more evidence cholesterol-lowering statins may protect against dementia and memory loss.

Scientists believe taking cholesterol-lowering statins prevent from dementia in individuals at a high risk of developing the condition.

Older people who are taking statin drugs may see their risk for dementia fall by half, a new study said.

Scientists have pinpointed the genetic cause of a rare side effect of the cholesterol-lowering drugs statins.

Obese children, including some as young as eight, should receive cholesterol-lowering drugs, say leading US doctors.

Experts in UK, treating small numbers of high risk children, say wider use of drugs should be discussed

Experts in UK, treating small numbers of high risk children, say wider use of drugs should be discussed

Cholesterol-lowering statins may help minimise the risk of an emergency Caesarean, researchers suspect.

The number of adults prescribed statins in England and Wales is set to soar under new national guidelines.

NICE said the "systematic identification" of these patients, who may not even realise they are at risk, would prevent 15,000 heart attacks and strokes every year.

About 4m people in England and Wales are already taking statins, they estimate.

The additional drugs will cost £35m annually with £28m for identifying those at risk in the first year.

Scientists have successfully tested statins in a laboratory environment, saying they can prevent esophageal cancer cell proliferation.

Millions more people in England are likely to be prescribed statins - but the impact on health may be limited.

This brings me to the question I ask in my headline: during the many years of the Cholesterol Con—where were the doctors? When everyone from the makers of Mazola Corn Oil to the Popes of Cardiology assured us that virtually anyone could ward off heart disease by lowering their cholesterol, why didn’t more of our doctors raise an eyebrow and warn us : “Actually, that’s not what the research shows” ?

Research suggests that, except among high-risk heart patients, the benefits of statins such as Lipitor are overstated

Diabetics should receive cholesterol-busting drugs regardless of their heart disease risk, researchers say.

A study finds statins can provide protection against heart disease a decade after patients stop taking them.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs can lower the death risk of stroke patients, claim researchers.

Effectiveness of drugs such as statins in treating elderly patients questioned by group of medical experts.

Use of drugs such as statins to prevent disease may not prolong or improve life in elderly people, say doctors.

Can the ill-effects of an unhealthy lifestyle be offset with a pill, such as a statin?

Those who significantly reduce their cholesterol levels with statins may be at an increased risk of cancer, US research suggests.

The Boston-based researchers could not say if this was a side-effect of the statin or due to the low cholesterol.

They also write in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that the benefits of statins outweigh the risks.

An extra 3.3 million people will become eligible for cholesterol-busting drugs, thanks to new NHS guidelines.

GPs will be urged to prescribe statins to those with a 20% risk of developing cardiovascular disease within 10 years, as well as those who have it.

Currently, the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) recommends giving statins to those with a 30% risk.

It is hoped the change will cut the number of heart attacks and strokes.

Nice also hopes the widening of prescription guidelines will ultimately save the NHS money by reducing the number of people who have to undergo costly heart operations such as by-passes.

A type of cholesterol-lowering drug can prevent heart attacks and strokes in all at-risk patients, research suggests.

Statins are widely used to minimise the risk of cardiovascular disease in people with high cholesterol.

But researchers at the Universities of Oxford and Sydney say their work suggests the drugs could be of benefit to many more people.

The study is published online by The Lancet.

Statins are already given to around 2.5m people in the UK.

And the government ruled last year that statins should be made available over-the-counter without a prescription at chemists.

But doctors tend only to recommend them to people with high cholesterol.

The researchers analysed detailed results from more than 90,000 participants in 14 trials involving statin treatments.

They found many people presenting with lower cholesterol levels could also benefit from statin treatment.

The people who derived the greatest benefit were those whose cholesterol level was reduced the most by statin treatment - largely regardless of their starting cholesterol level.

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