NATIONAL BRIEFING / NATIONWIDE

Statin drugs, taken to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease, also can cut the risk of developing dangerous blood clots that can lodge in the legs or lungs, a major study suggests. The results provide a new reason to consider taking these medicines, sold as Crestor, Lipitor, Zocor and in generic form, doctors say.

In the study, Crestor cut nearly in half the risk of blood clots in people with low cholesterol but who tested high for inflammation. The same study last fall showed that Crestor dramatically reduced heart attacks, strokes and risk of death in these people.

Results were reported at the American College of Cardiology conference in Orlando, Fla., and published online by the New England Journal of Medicine. AstraZeneca, which makes Crestor, paid for the study.