Medical Industry Sees "Plaque Busters' Pumping Up Sales; Good News For Heart Patients; Study shows that Lipitor, the top-selling cholesterol drug, also stops plaque.(HEALTH & MEDICINE)

Byline: GLORIA LAU

Dangerously high cholesterol levels afflict one in five adult Americans -- 42 million in all -- increasing their risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Indeed, heart disease is so common that bypass surgery and angioplasty are household terms.

But for patients in earlier stages of the disease, some effective treatments don't require surgery. Many are drugs that cut levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol or raise "good" HDL cholesterol.

Upcoming drugs, still in late-stage clinical studies, show promise for even better results.

Dominant Player

More than $20 billion a year is spent worldwide on cholesterol drugs, says analyst Robert Hazlett of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. And more than 85% of that is spent on statins, which cut bad cholesterol and reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack by 30%.