A Statin a Day?

Recent headlines reported that the drug Crestor cut nearly in half the number of heart attacks and strokes even in people with low cholesterol.

The results sounded so good, people may have been tempted to run out and ask their doctor for a prescription.

The news is good, but local doctors caution that the implications apply only to people who are already at elevated risk for heart attack and stroke -- potentially 7 million Americans.

And Crestor, critics point out, carries the potential for nasty and potentially fatal side effects.

The key to knowing if statins like Crestor could do a patient some good depends for now on a blood test of C-reactive protein or CRP.

CRP is a sign of inflammation in the blood vessels, which is increasingly suspected as a possible cause of heart attacks and strokes.

Crestor is one of a class of drugs known as statins that not only lower cholesterol but also reduce signs of inflammation.

Statins, however, have their own problems. They've been associated in some cases with liver damage, muscle weakness and pain and a rare but sometimes fatal muscle deterioration known as rhabdomyolysis.

Public Citizen, a patient advocacy group in Washington, D.C., has long tried to get the FDA to warn the public about statins.