Lowering 'bad' cholesterol by a certain amount reduces your risk of heart attacks and strokes — and it doesn’t matter if you use statins or other pills like ezetimibe; they both work about the same to protect your heart.

Different non-statin ways to lower 'bad' cholesterol—like special diets, pills, or even surgery—seem to cut heart attacks and strokes just as well as statins, as long as they lower cholesterol by the same amount.

If you lower your 'bad' cholesterol by about 1 point (from around 3.16 to 2.16), you cut your risk of heart attacks, strokes, or needing heart surgery by roughly a quarter—no matter if you use statins or other drugs that work the same way.

Taking statins to lower your 'bad' cholesterol by a specific amount can cut your chance of having a heart attack or stroke by about 1 in 5—even if you’ve never had heart problems before and are considered low risk.

If you're at low risk for heart problems and take a statin to lower your 'bad' cholesterol by a small amount, you're about 11% less likely to have a heart attack or stroke over the next five years — out of 1000 people like you, roughly 11 fewer will have a major heart or blood vessel problem.

If you're at low risk for heart attacks or strokes in the next five years, taking a statin to lower your 'bad' cholesterol by a small amount can prevent about 11 serious heart or blood vessel problems per 1,000 people over five years — and that help is bigger than the side effects you might get.