The first long-term study of the world's largest selling type of medication analysed 6,500 men who took statins and it was revealed that they were still showing benefits of the drugs ten years after they stopped taking them.
The chances of suffering a fatal heart attack over the period dropped by more than 25 per cent, the scientists said adding that there was no evidence of unexpected side-effects.
The study participants were middle-aged men who had never had a heart attack but who had a very high average level of LDL, or bad cholesterol i.e.192. Statins are usually are prescribed indefinitely for people with known heart disease.
Federal guidelines say these drugs are very safe and may be used by people with LDL levels as low as 130, or even 100 if they are at very high risk of heart attack.
Professor Chris Packard, a co-author of the study, said, "The impact of the statin treatment appeared to persist long after the active phase of the trial."
"This suggests that the drugs have lasting beneficial effects on the artery wall, possibly by stabilising plaques that might be about to rupture and cause an heart attack," he added.
Statins appear to stabilize the lining of the blood vessels, as well as damping down inflammation thus slowing down the progression of coronary artery disease.
The new results appear in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
