(05-02-11) Statins Raise Stroke Risk

Anyone who has had the type of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain should
avoid the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins, according to
researchers. The drugs increase the risk of a second stroke in these patients.

It was especially true of people who had strokes in one of their brain's four
lobes, which have a greater chance of recurrence than strokes that occur deep
in the brain.

People who have a stroke in one of their lobes have a 22 percent risk of a
second stroke when they take statins, compared with a 14 percent risk among
those not taking a statin.

According to Reuters:

"The researchers said it is not clear how statins increase the bleeding risk
in these patients. It may be having low cholesterol increases the risk of
bleeding in the brain, or it may be that statins affect clotting factors in the
blood that increase the risk of a brain hemorrhage in these patients."

Sources:
Reuters January 10, 2011
Archives of Neurology January 10, 2011

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