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Giving patients statins and ezetimibe after a heart attack can reduce risk of second attack or stroke, say scientists

Thousands of heart attacks or strokes could be prevented and lives saved with a combination of two cheap drugs, a study suggests.

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death worldwide, with heart attacks the most common acute event. For those who survive an attack, the risk of another one is highest in the first year because blood vessels are more sensitive, making it easier for blood clots to develop.

Researchers at Imperial College London and Lund University in Sweden found that by giving heart attack patients two drugs together – statins and ezetimibe, a cholesterol-lowering drug – their risk of another heart attack, stroke or death was reduced.