Results of a new US study show that cholesterol lowering drug rosuvastatin can considerably decrease the risk of venous thromboembolism in healthy people.

In their trials the researchers found that rosuvastatin reduced the risk of blood clots or venous thromboembolism nearly 43 percent in healthy people.

Pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis are two well-known forms of VTE and they are two common reasons behind preventable death among hospital patients.

The study has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In the UK, there are almost 25,000 fatal blood clotting related deaths every year and according to an estimate nearly 52 percent hospital patients in UK have higher risk for developing DVT.

According to a report that was published in November 2007, nearly 40% patients were aware of that kind of risk, while in almost 25% patients the risk was assessed by some healthcare professional.

DVT is also associated with longer air travels, where passengers can’t easily move around and have limited opportunities to do so.

In the current study has been presented at an American College of Cardiology conference and in it 17,802 healthy people were followed for two years.