01/06/2012 0 Comments Contact Our News Editors

People with high cholesterol are at risk of heart attack and stroke because atherosclerotic plaques within their arteries can rupture triggering the formation of a blood clot called an occlusive thrombus that cuts off the blood supply to their heart or brain.

For years, scientists have studied the cause of this abnormal clotting. Now, a study led by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has identified a molecular pathway that leads to this abnormal blood clotting. The researchers then turned off the pathway by using a popular class of cholesterol-lowering drugs, statins.