Even though cholesterol-busting statins are basically prescribed for the prevention of heart attacks and strokes, researchers now believe that these drugs can also effectively protect a person against other potentially fatal disorders!

According to a research by the Imperial College London researchers, statins can help bring about a notable decline in the risk of death from infection and respiratory illnesses like pneumonia.

It was on the basis of a study of 10,000 patients in the UK, Ireland, and Scaninavia, that the researchers found a fall in the death rate for statin users after a decade – the decline not being attributable to heart disease alone.

With a new analysis of data involving British patients further showing that the overall death rate was 14 percent lower in statin users, the researchers found that it was chiefly because of fewer deaths from infection and respiratory illness – a fact that apparently points to the anti-inflammatory effect of statins.

Noting that the findings – presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris, and also published in the European Heart Journal – were “very unexpected,” lead researcher Professor Peter Sever, from the International Centre for Circulatory Health at Imperial College London, said: “The benefits of statins for preventing heart attacks and strokes are well-established, but after long-term follow-up the most significant effects seem to be on deaths from other causes”!