A widely-prescribed cholesterol lowering drug has been found to reduce the risk of stroke and death from coronary disease even in post-heart attack patients with average cholesterol levels, according to a study by Harvard Medical School researchers.

Pravastatin reduces the risk of stroke by 31 percent and the risk of recent heart attack and death from heart disease by 24 percent in post-heart attack patients with average cholesterol levels, according to the study which was printed in last week's New England Journal of Medicine. In addition, there were similar reductions in the need for coronary artery bypass surgery and coronary angioplasty.

The study, titled "The Effect of Pravastatin on Coronary Events After Myocardial Infarction in Patients with Average Cholesterol Levels" (CARE), was the first of its kind to evaluate the long-term benefits of pravastatin.

"Through the CARE study, we have learned that even those patients who do not have high cholesterol can optimize their post-heart attack treatment and reduce their risk of a cardiovascular event such as heart attack and stroke by taking pravastatin," said Marc A. Pfeffer, associate professor of medicine and Director of the CARE Clinical Centers, in a press release.

"These results are particularly compelling because patients enrolled in CARE already were benefiting from optimal post-heart attack treatments such as aspirin, beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, bypass surgery or balloon angioplasty," Pfeffer said.

With the CARE study, Pravachol, the trade name of Pravastatin, becomes the first cholesterol-lowering medication to reduce the risk of stroke.

"The CARE trial demonstrates that treatment with pravastatin can substantially reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in patients with a history of heart attack," said Frank M. Sacks, the principal investigator of CARE and associate professor of medicine.

"The study gives new importance to cholesterol-lowering therapy by demonstrating a significant reduction in the incidence of coronary events in patients with cholesterol levels of less than 240 milligrams per deciliter," Sacks said. "This group includes the majority of survivors of heart attack."

The CARE study was conducted by researchers from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital during a five year period. About 4,000 men and women between the ages of 21 and 75 who had suffered a heart attack in the previous two years were enrolled in the study.

The patient pool had cholesterol levels of about 209 milligrams per deciliter, the average for the populations of the U.S. and Canada.