Anti-Cholesterol Drugs Useful in Preventing Dangerous Blood Clots as Well

An important function of cholesterol drugs can also be effective in preventing dangerous blood clots, known as thrombosis, that often lead to heart attacks, a new report published in the journal Blood reveals.

According to the study, those cholesterol drugs that can control an important protein known as LXR can also be effective in avoiding thrombosis, which narrow the blood vessels thereby increasing the risk of heart attacks. The research was led by Prof Jon Gibbins of Reading University's Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research and was funded by British Heart Foundation and Heart Research UK.

The researchers tested their theory on mice and found that the drugs were successfully able to reduce the size and severity of the growing blood clots by more than 40 percent.

"This exciting discovery by Professor Gibbin's team shows that drugs which lower cholesterol through targeting LXR protein can also reduce harmful blood clotting - potentially opening up paths towards new, more effective treatments", British Heart Foundation's Prof Jeremy Pearson said.




Source: Medindia