Early use of these 2 cheap drugs can help prevent a heart attack

Heart attacks are sudden - but their prevention doesn't have to be. A new study now points toward a powerful and affordable way to reduce the risk of heart attacks in people who’ve already had one. The research suggests that a timely combination of two low-cost medications - statins and ezetimibe , can drastically improve recovery and stop another attack before it happens.


Backed by data from more than 36,000 heart patients, this study, done by researchers at Lund University in Sweden and Imperial College London, shows how acting early with this drug combo can make a world of difference. And it all comes down to managing cholesterol levels before damage strikes again.


Why early treatment matters


After a heart attack, the clock doesn’t stop ticking. The body enters a sensitive phase where arteries remain vulnerable and unstable. During this time, the risk of a second attack is especially high.



What makes things worse is that many patients don’t receive aggressive cholesterol-lowering treatment right away. Current medical guidelines often take a “wait and see” approach—starting with one medicine and slowly adding others if needed. But by the time a second drug is introduced, the damage may already be done.


Meet the power pair


Statins are already a well-known player in heart disease treatment . They work by reducing the liver’s ability to make cholesterol, especially LDL—the “bad” kind.


Ezetimibe, on the other hand, takes a different route. It blocks the absorption of cholesterol from food in the intestines. Together, they form a powerful tag team: one stops internal production, the other stops external absorption.


This dual approach can drive down cholesterol levels much faster and more effectively than statins alone.



What the study found: Timing changes everything

The new research, led by experts from Sweden and the UK, studied thousands of heart attack survivors. It compared three groups:

• Those who got statins only
• Those who got ezetimibe added later (after 13 weeks or more)
• Those who received both medications within 12 weeks of the heart attack

The results were eye-opening. Patients who got the combo treatment early had significantly fewer future heart problems, including fewer second heart attacks, and lower death rates.




This wasn’t a small trial, it was based on real-world data from Swedish hospital records between 2015 and 2022. The numbers show that thousands of lives could be saved if the drug combo is given right away after a heart attack.


Affordable, accessible, and underused

One of the most important findings of the study is that both these drugs are already available in most countries. They are not new or expensive—just underutilised.


Ezetimibe, in particular, is cheap and comes with very few side effects. It’s often overlooked in early treatment, partly because it’s not yet strongly emphasised in many heart care guidelines. But with growing evidence, that might soon change.