Combining a statin with another type of cholesterol-lowering drug boosts the medication’s ability to fend off heart disease, new research has found.

The study, by researchers at Kumamoto University in Japan, found taking a statin along with the the drug ezetimibe — a so-called cholesterol absorption inhibitor — led to a greater reduction in the blood fat than using the statin alone.

The findings, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, could offer a new way to prevent and treat heart disease, the No. 1 killer in the U.S.

"The research showed that the co-administration treatment efficiently and safely lowered LDL cholesterol levels, reduced the absorption of cholesterol in the body, and produced greater regression of coronary artery plaque compared to statin only therapies," said Hisao Ogawa, M.D., head of Cardiovascular Medicine at Kumamoto University. “This treatment for high risk coronary artery disease patients is expected to be very useful clinically."

The study tracked patients whose LDL cholesterol levels were 100 mg/dL or more — well above the normal range for healthy adults of 60-139. Patients were divided into two groups — of which received a statin alone and the other and a statin plus ezetimibe.

"At the end of the trial, we found a clear difference between the two groups of patients." said Kenichi Tsujita, M.D., who led the research. "The average LDL cholesterol level of the group of patients treated with statin alone went from 109.8 … to 73.3 [but] the average LDL level of the group that received co-administration of statin and ezetimibe went down from 108.3 to 63.2.

“In other words, the single drug treatment group had 29 percent lower cholesterol, whereas the cholesterol of the combined drug treatment group was lowered by approximately 40 percent."