Stick With Statins After A Stroke
Risk of death doubles when cholesterol-lowering meds are stopped

(HealthDay News) -- For people taking cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins after a stroke, the advice is clear-cut: Keep taking them.

Stopping these medications can have dire consequences, according to an Italian study published in the journal Stroke . Those who quit taking statins significantly increased their risk of dying, the study found.

"Most people who have had ischemic strokes should be treated with statins as part of their overall treatment," Dr. Matthew Fink, chief of the division of stroke and critical care neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City , told HealthDay .

Each year, nearly 800,000 people in the United States have a stroke, either for the first time or a repeat attack, according to the American Heart Association. That means someone has a stroke about every 40 seconds. One of every 16 deaths in the country is caused by stroke, the association reports, and stroke is a leading cause of serious disability.

The Italian study followed 631 people who had survived a stroke. Their average age was 70, and they had no other major illnesses. When they were discharged from the hospital, all had orders to take a statin medication.

However, four and a half years later, nearly 40 percent had stopped taking statins, often before even two months had gone by.

About one-fourth of those who had stopped cited the drug's side effects as the reason. The most frequently reported side effect was indigestion.

Fink said that people often assume that any symptoms they have are a result of their medications. "They have a tendency to have aches and pains, and they blame them on the statin," he said. "It's not due to the drug, but it's hard to convince them."

But those who ditched the statins doubled their risk of dying within the next year, the study found.

Additionally, the researchers reported that people who stopped taking anti-clotting drugs, such as Plavix, boosted their odds of dying by 80 percent.

"Discontinuing either statins or anti-platelet drugs was associated with an increase in all-cause mortality," Dr. Larry Goldstein, director of the stroke center at Duke University, told HealthDay .

Goldstein said that statins are often standard therapy at Duke after a stroke. "A patient who has coronary artery disease or diabetes should be on a statin," he said. "If there is no known coronary heart disease, we prescribe a statin for someone whose LDL [low-density lipoprotein] cholesterol is between 100 and 190."

An earlier study of 89 people in Spain found that discontinuing statins was associated with an increased risk of death after 90 days.

"The Spanish study looked at the acute effects in the hospital; the Italian study looked at the effect on outpatients," Fink said. "Both studies show the importance of continuing on these medications. When you start them, stay on them."

On the Web

Learn more about stroke from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Larry Goldstein, M.D., director, Stroke Center, Duke University, Durham, N.C.; Matthew Fink, M.D., chief, Division of Stroke and Critical Care Neurology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City; Aug. 31, 2007, Stroke ; American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (www.americanheart.org)
Author: Serena Gordon
Publication date: Aug. 31, 2008
Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.