Statins reduce risk of strokes by 30%

Main Category: Cholesterol
Article Date: 05 Mar 2004 - 0:00 PST

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Researchers have found that a heart drug reduces your chances of having a stroke.

High risk patients who are given statins reduce their stroke risk by one third. This is according to scientists at Radcliffe Infirmary, UK.

You can read about their research in the Lancet.

Currently, patients at high risk of having a heart attack are given statins. The researchers say that patients at high risk of stroke should also be on statins.

Statins are cholesterol lowering drugs, specifically LDL cholesterol or bad cholesterol.

Researchers monitored 20,000 patients for a period of five years. The study was called The Heart Protection Study.

Of those 20,000, 3,000 had already had either a stroke or a minor stroke. 17,000 had had either a heart attack or heart disease. Some of the patients, chosen at random were given a daily statin dose of 40 milligrams, others were given a placebo. They found that statins lowered the risk of having an sichaemic stroke by 25%. Ischaemic strokes are caused by blood clots.

Had the participants been on the statins longer, say the researchers, their risk would have gone down by about one third.

Risk of haemorrhagic stroke remained the same. Haemorrhagic strokes are caused by blood vessels rupturing and leaking into the brain.

Professor Rory Collins, team leader said 'This study shows that statin therapy rapidly reduces the incidence not only of heart attacks but also of ischaemic strokes, with no adverse effect on haemorrhagic strokes, even among individuals who do not have high cholesterol concentrations. The study also provides definitive evidence that statin therapy is beneficial for people with a history of stroke or other cerebrovascular disease. National and international treatment guidelines should now be revised so that stroke risk reductions are taken into account when the initiation of statin therapy is being considered.'

Guidelines in the UK will probably say that patients with cholesterol above 3.5% should take statins.

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