A recent study said that anti-cholesterol drug Crestor could save lives by lowering the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people with normal cholesterol levels.

But an expert from Consumer Reports says patients should be cautious about taking drugs known as statins because of the new information.

Dr. Marvin Lipman wrote that when the report came out, his patients started asking about it. He said that, while there were 18,000 people in the group studied, it was a group very unlikely to have heart attacks and strokes. While the group that took Crestor had a much lower rate of problems than those on placebo, the actual number of patients with a cardiovascular event was low in each group.

He said that, in short, doctors would have to treat 120 people for nearly two years to prevent even one heart attack or stroke.

And those who took the drug also had a greater risk of blood-sugar problems. Plus, taking Crestor for a year can cost more than $1,000.