Patients who get a statin drug in the critical first hours after a heart attack are much more likely to leave the hospital alive than those who don’t get the cholesterol-lowering medication, new research finds.Previous studies have shown that giving statins during a hospital stay for a heart attack reduces the long-term death rate. This one -- the largest of its kind ever done -- shows that the timing of the drug administration plays a significant role, said study author Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a cardiology professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), His report appears in the Sept. 1 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
