By Patricia Yarberry Allen, MD and Timothy C. Dutta, MD, FACC

Aside from preventing a heart attack in the short run, statins also slow, or even stop, the gradual formation of plaque that narrows the coronary arteries over a span of decades. Since there is almost no chance of getting rid of plaque once it is there, why not get a head start on prevention by starting the medication earlier, before the plaque forms?

"I read all the time that heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women. What does that mean, exactly? Is it heart attacks, or something else? Does it mean women in their fifties or mostly women in their nineties?"