Video: Statins 'could save a lot of lives' The risk of a heart attack or stroke is cut by a fifth in those who have no sign of heart disease, according to research by scientists at Oxford University. In light of the findings, experts have called for treatment guidelines to be reviewed and suggested that the NHS should impose a blanket policy of prescribing up to 20 million people statins at a potential cost of £240million a year. Currently, only the people considered at high risk, those with a one-in-five chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years, are given the cholesterol-lowering drugs.