"Since there is a lot of contradictory data out there already, clearly it's a topic that needs further research," she said. The study is being presented at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society on Sunday. Dr Sue Lewis-Jones, consultant dermatologist and British Skin Foundation spokeswoman, said the study was interesting but that it was too early to draw conclusions from it. "There are many questions about the risk of exposure to pets and atopic diseases like eczema. "We should be cautious about removing pets from the home environment, because children who are currently tolerant of pet hair may go on to develop an allergy when re-exposed to animal hair at a later stage," said Dr Lewis Jones. "There is a lot of contradictory data around this subject and it is definitely one that would benefit from further research."

She added that forcibly removing a pet from the home could have an emotional impact on the child which may in itself worsen the eczema. A spokeswoman for the Cats Protection League said: "As the researchers themselves say, most evidence shows that children who have cats as pets have a reduced risk of developing asthma and other allergies in later life, so this new piece of research is rather surprising." She said further research to disprove this view was needed and that the league would be very interested in the results. Cat allergy is the most common pet allergy, affecting up to 40% of asthma sufferers. It is caused by a tiny protein in a cat's skin flakes and saliva, which is deposited on the fur when the animal grooms itself by licking. It can trigger an allergic reaction within minutes if it is breathed in by the allergy-sufferer. The symptoms usually include itchy eyes, sneezing, asthma and the skin rashes typical of eczema.

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Over the 10 years there were 212 heart attacks or stroke among the men. The UK government's National Service Framework recommendations target those at highest risk, and would require just 14% of the group to be treated. But this only cuts the rate of heart attack or stroke in the overall population by 9%. European guidelines resulted in 46% of the group being treated, and a reduction of 19%. For US guidelines the figures were 60% treated and around 22% fewer heart attacks and strokes. The researchers, led by Professor Paul Durrington, said statin treatment will make little difference to the overall rate of cardiovascular disease unless it is targeted at all those at average risk - most middle-aged men and most older women. They added: "Whether cholesterol lowering on such a scale should be attempted with drugs raises philosophical, psychological, and economic considerations." Professor Durrington's team also said more effective national policies on nutrition to reduce reliance on statins should also be considered.

They highlighted a "lack of resolve in tackling Britain's unhealthy diet," which has led to one in three of Europe's obese children being British. Roger Boyle, the government's National Director for Coronary Heart Disease, said: "Statin prescribing has been rising by 30% year-on-year in the NHS since publication of the Coronary Heart Disease NSF in 2000, and we estimate that this is responsible for saving up to 9,000 lives a year. "Statin prescribing is one key weapon in the NHS's armoury when in comes to managing cardiovascular risk. However, this needs to go hand in hand with the massive programme of work that is under way to change unhealthy lifestyles and tackle the causes of heart disease, which remains a national priority." Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "This study suggests that if we are going to have a real impact on heart attacks and strokes, many more people should receive statin treatment than current guidelines suggest. "In fact, guidelines are constantly evolving and the 'goal posts' are constantly moving towards treating more and more people at lower and lower risk of a heart attack or stroke." He added: "There is a real public health dilemma emerging. "This suggests that we must either treat many more people who are conventionally considered to be at relatively low risk of a heart attack, or we must be much more aggressive in our attempts to prevent the disease from occurring in the first place."

A drug used to help doctors interpret medical scans may also help to boost the potency of anti-cancer therapies, research suggests. Mangafodipir is used as a contrast agent in hi-tech magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). French researchers found it increased the cancer-killing ability of some chemotherapy drugs, while at the same time protecting normal cells. Details are published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Many anti-cancer drugs work by increasing the levels of hydrogen peroxide in tumour cells. Tumour cells are particularly sensitive to the chemical, and die as a result. However, certain enzymes in the body can work to protect cells from this kind of damage, rendering certain cancer drugs less effective. In addition, the drugs are toxic to normal cells.

Double effect: Mangafodipir was found to help promote the production of hydrogen peroxide while at the same time, through different biological mechanisms, protecting healthy cells from damage. A team from the Groupe hospitalier Cochin-Saint Vincent de Paul in Paris carried out tests on tumour cells and white blood cells taken from cancer patients, and white blood cells taken from healthy patients. Each type of cell was exposed to three chemotherapy drugs - paclitaxel, oxaliplatin, and 5-fluorouracil - in the presence and absence of mangafodipir. Mangafodipir was found to protect the white blood cells taken from both the healthy volunteers and the cancer patients. The researchers also studied the effects of mangafodipir on mice with colon cancer who were being treated with paclitaxel.

Tolerated chemical: They found the drug protected the animals from infection which could compromise their immune system, and seemed to increase the cancer-killing potency of paclitaxel. Henry Scowcroft, cancer information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "Mangafodipir was developed in the early nineties and has a good track record in cancer diagnosis. "We welcome the discovery that this well-understood and tolerated chemical can increase the effectiveness of conventional chemotherapy. "These exciting preliminary results now need to be followed up in further trials, to make sure that the chemical is as safe when used for treating cancers as it is for helping detect them."