“If statins are really as safe and effective as they appear to be, broadening the indications for statin therapy would be an effective and cost-effective strategy,” said Mark Hlatky, MD, professor of health research and policy and of cardiovascular medicine. “But under different assumptions, targeted CRP screening would be a reasonable approach,” Hlatky is the senior author of the findings, published online Sept. 27 in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The study comes almost two years after a major clinical trial, known as the JUPITER study, showed that millions more people could benefit from taking statins, even if they have low cholesterol. That study involved patients with low cholesterol levels but elevated levels of CRP, which indicates inflammation in the body and suggests a greater risk of heart attack and stroke.

Eprotirome tablets rapidly lowered cholesterol and other dangerous blood fats in men and women for whom statins were not working well.

Levels of artery-clogging cholesterol fell by up to a third – an effect equal to doubling the amount of statins, the respected New England Journal of Medicine reports.

Crucially, the drug was free of the side-effects associated with statins, including muscle and liver problems, depression, loss of libido and difficulty sleeping.

Eprotirome works in a different way to statins, meaning it is likely to be of use to those who suffer side-effects when taking the popular drugs.

Routinely prescribed to survivors of heart attacks and strokes and to those whose cholesterol is much higher than normal, statins are credited with saving up to 10,000 lives a year by reducing the build-up of cholesterol in arteries.

Statins, which help to lower cholesterol levels, have been shown to boost the diabetes risk by nine per cent in over-60s.

The authors believe the benefits of statins still far outweigh the risks for this age group.

But their findings have prompted concern over a Government plan to prescribe statins to millions of patients as young as 40 based on their long-term risk of heart disease.

Family doctors have been told to assess all patients aged between 40 and 74 for their 10-year risk of developing heart problems. Anyone with even as little as a 20 per cent risk should be offered statins.

Doctors have been concerned for many years that statins may increase the risk of diabetes.

But studies have been inconclusive. Some suggest they do raise the risk while others say they actually protect against the condition. Now a meta-analysis – combining the results of 13 trials – suggests that for every person who developed diabetes, five will have avoided a heart attack or heart disease thanks to the pills.

But the researchers say they do not know why the drugs might cause diabetes or if it is simply down to chance.