Researchers are now saying statin therapy should be used to treat all appropriate patients, regardless of gender.
Past studies questioned whether these cholesterol lowering drugs worked as well in women as they do in men.
New research in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds that for both men and women, statins lower the risk of a heart attack by about 20 percent.
Previous studies have shown that statins are under-prescribed for women.
Although women usually develop heart disease at a later age than men, their life-long risk is actually higher.
