Camilla Jessen
A large study shows that combining two affordable medications after a heart attack could save thousands of lives—but one of them is rarely prescribed.
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Every year, thousands of people suffer a heart attack—many of them face a serious risk of having another one within the first year.
For decades, doctors have prescribed statins to lower LDL cholesterol and reduce that risk. But new research suggests that statins alone may not be enough—and the solution has been hiding in plain sight.
A major Swedish study based on data from over 36,000 heart patients shows that adding the drug ezetimibe to statin treatment within the first 12 weeks after a heart attack significantly lowers the chance of a second attack or death.
The findings are clear: early combination therapy could prevent 133 heart attacks per 10,000 patients over three years. In the UK alone, that translates to an estimated 5,000 avoided heart attacks over a decade.
Effective, Affordable, and Underused
Ezetimibe is neither new nor experimental.
It’s a widely available, approved drug that works by reducing cholesterol absorption in the intestine. When combined with statins, which lower cholesterol production in the liver, the two create a powerful dual effect.
Despite its potential, ezetimibe is rarely prescribed right after a heart attack. Doctors often hesitate to add it immediately due to outdated guidelines or concerns about side effects and overmedication.
But researchers behind the study, cited in The Sun, point out that ezetimibe has relatively few side effects and is inexpensive—costing around €408 / $435 per patient per year.
Why Isn’t This the Standard?
One major reason ezetimibe isn’t more widely used is that current clinical guidelines don’t recommend early combination therapy as standard. As a result, many doctors stick to statins alone—even though the study shows clear benefits to adding ezetimibe early on.
This cautious approach could be costing lives. The researchers argue it’s time to update treatment protocols to reflect the new evidence.
We have a tool that can prevent thousands of heart attacks—and we’re simply not using it, one of the lead researchers said.