Statins and Stroke Preventive Treatment
Statins (Lipitor, Pravachol, Zocor, Crestor, etc.) Should be initiated early after a first stroke (AC) or transient ischemic attack (TIA).
These drugs not only decrease the risk of a new cerebrovascular event, but also reduce the risk of coronary events, even in patients without history of cardiovascular disease.
This follows from the SPARCL study (Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels) presented at the 15th European Stroke Conference in mid last year.
Statins have been used traditionally to normalize cholesterol levels in patients with dyslipidemia.
However, the evidence of this scientific work shows that the statin (Lipitor) has benefits beyond just reducing LDL “bad” or LDL, but even in patients with normal total cholesterol, this drug prevents the possibility of a new stroke or coronary event.
The high-dose drug was well tolerated by most patients and detected only a subtle increase in cerebral hemorrhages, which is far outweighed by the benefits of the drug.
The question one asks is whether this benefit is specific for Lipitor, or can be extrapolated to other statins that are in the market.
More likely is that this benefit is not exclusive to Lipitor, but the latter drug has the merit of having been made ua an interesting test in the SPARCL study.
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