Statins and Stroke

Statin medications reduce the risk of stroke in people with vascular disease. Further, even after people have had a stroke or transitory ischemic attack, using statins reduces the risk of a second stroke. This may be due to statins may have benefits in neuroprotection and recovery after stroke.

Given that the etiology of heart disease and strokes are similar, it is not surprising that statins would be beneficial for strokes, although it shoule be noted that epidemiological and observational studies have not shown a definitive association between cholesterol levels and stroke. Researchers suspect that statins play a part beyond their cholesterol-lowering function in stroke prevention.