Statins and Stroke

Statin medications reduce the risk of stroke in people with vascular disease. They have a less of a preventative effect in patients without coronary artery 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. A recent study found that statins help elderly people as well as younger stroke patients in recovery. Two European studies show statins reduce the risk of venous thromboembolism. It is also worth distinguishing between ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. Ischemia is when the brain's blood supply is cut off by thrombosis or embolism, whicl hemorrages are when tissue ruptures to release blood. Statins decrease the risk of ischemic stroke, but there is some indication that they increase the increase of hemorrhagic 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.