EurekAlert! -- Statins may provide potentially life-saving benefits for patients with cardiovascular disease by helping reduce the incidence of blood clots. New research presented at CHEST 2009, the 75th annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), shows that patients with atherosclerosis receiving statin therapy had a significantly reduced risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE)—a collective term for DVT (blood clot) and pulmonary embolism (PE)—than patients not on statin therapy. Furthermore, patients on a higher dose of statins had the least likelihood of developing VTE.
