Its website points out that eating a balanced diet and taking regular exercise can achieve the same effects as taking statins.
Worldwide, they are the most commonly prescribed drug in the history of medicine.
It has been claimed that every third person in England over the age of 45 is taking them - around 7 million people.
What do they do?
Cholesterol is made in the liver. Statins act by slowing the work of the enzymes that create cholesterol. They also have the knock-on effect of allowing the cholesterol that already exists to be digested. Some studies have suggested that statins can even absorb the fatty deposits from artery walls. Others have even suggested they can help tackle brittle bones.
Statins can lower "bad" cholesterol levels by up to 60 per cent and boost "good" cholesterol - high-density lipoprotein - levels.
If you don't keep your cholesterol levels low, fatty deposits can build up in your arteries which can eventually cause heart attacks, heart disease, angina and strokes.
There are many different types, all their proper names end in -statin but they are sold under brand names, and they vary in strength but they all do the same thing.
They can take effect after as little as four weeks but when you stop taking statins, your cholesterol level is likely, intially at least, to rise.
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