Statin to Prevent Recurrent Stroke

Ivanhoe Newswire
Thursday, August 10, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Roughly 15 million people suffer from a stroke each year, and as many as 40 percent of those people will have another stroke within five years.

A recent study, the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels trial, reveals a new treatment option. Researchers found people who have had a stroke but have no history of coronary heart disease can reduce their risk of reoccurring stroke by taking atorvastatin -- a cholesterol-reducing drug sold as Lipitor -- shortly following the event.

"These data are important information because patients who had a stroke are at much greater risk for suffering another one, yet treatment options to reduce their risk are limited," writes K. Michael Welch, Ph.D., president of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in Chicago.

The study included 4,731 patients who had suffered a stroke or transient ischemic attack -- an event often called a ministroke -- at 205 various sites around the world.

Patients were randomly chosen to receive either 80 milligrams of atorvastatin or a placebo daily. Atorvastatin lowered the overall risk of stroke by 16 percent, despite a minor increase in hemorrhagic stroke. Additionally, the drug decreased stroke patients' risk for major coronary and cardiovascular events.

Researchers attribute the success of the drug to its ability to lower the levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol -- also known as "bad" cholesterol -- and recommend that it becomes an established part of secondary stroke prevention.

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SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2006;355:549-559