Crestor, one of the most popular and widely used cholesterol lowering drugs, has been shown to drastically lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes in women by a study which was recently presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association. The groups of women studied were relatively healthy and under current conditions and treatment guidelines would not be considered at a risk of developing heart diseases.

For the sake of research, data collected from 6,800 women who participated in a much larger 18,000 patient “Jupiter” study, was analyzed. The aim was to study the effects of AstraZeneca's Crestor on patients who had slightly high and normal cholesterol levels, but an elevated C-reaction protein level, presence of which put them at an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Results of the study revealed that women on Crestor, as opposed to those on other drugs, greatly reduce their risk of heart failure and stroke. Another interesting find that Jupiter put forward was a reduced risk of cancer death in women who were on Crestor. "Within Jupiter, we did not see increased risk of cancer", said Paul Ridker, Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston.

Currently, Crestor is one of the most popular cholesterol lowering drugs. Last year, the medicine recorded sales of $3.6 Billion, a 29% hike from the previous year. Health experts are asserting that the popularity is now bound to go up.