Statin medications may improve stroke treatments

Providing stoke patients with a prescription to buy Lipitor or another statin medication could reduce their risk of dying immediately following the cardiovascular event or experiencing long-term disability, according to a new study published in the journal Neurology.

For the study, researchers from Kaiser Permanente in Redwood City, California, analyzed the medical records of nearly 13,000 people who had been hospitalized for stoke. The team looked to see if patients took statins before or during their hospitalization and whether this had any effect on treatment outcomes.

The results showed that 57 percent of stoke patients who used statins before or during their hospitalization returned home following rehabilitation, compared to 47 percent of those who never took statins. Furthermore, statin users were nearly half as likely to die during their stay at the hospital.

"Statins are known to reduce the risk of further strokes, but the timing of when a statin should be started has been unclear," said lead researcher Alexander C. Flint. "Our research suggests that people should be given statins while they are in the hospital."