Off-label use of FDA-approved medications has been widely embraced by doctors and patients, especially for conditions where there may be few, if any, officially approved medications. Recently, another off-label use has come to light where there are few traditional treatments available: cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins have shown promise in treating multiple sclerosis patients, according to a new study published in the British journal Lancet. The few treatments currently available for MS, a devastating disease of the central nervous system, are enormously expensive. Statins, now used to treat and prevent heart disease, are inexpensive, widely available, and very well tolerated medications with few side effects. Scientists suspect that statins may be very versatile drugs, and that many other off-label uses yet remain to be discovered. While much more research still has to be done, the Lancet study demonstrates the utility in encouraging off label research of medications already on market with proven safety and efficacy.