and tracking the effectiveness of our treatments -- have not kept pace until now." Statins work well but not for everyone, and some people may not think they are worth the side effects, which can include muscle pain or even damage in rare cases. The scans may show whether benefits outweigh risks early in treatment. Statins can reduce plaque formation by as much as 40 percent, and death rates by 30 percent. Writing in the journal Circulation, the Hopkins team said it followed 29 patients who took Merck and Co's simvastatin, sold under the brand name Zocor, for three years. They said their findings suggested the statins save lives because they take cholesterol out of the blood, not because of their secondary effects reducing inflammation. They found that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol -- the LDL "bad" cholesterol -- was lowest in patients in whom plaque was reduced the most. The American Heart Association says that in 2001, more than 72,100 people died from atherosclerosis or clogged arteries -- many more than died from heart attack or stroke. Atherosclerosis accounts for nearly three-fourths of all deaths from cardiovascular disease.
