(U.S. News & World Report) — After suffering a first stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), people with diabetes are at greater risk of having another stroke or a heart attack, a new study confirms.
But, aggressively lowering cholesterol can help reduce that risk, the researchers report.
“Patients who had a stroke or TIA and who have diabetes are at higher risk of having another stroke as compared to patients who have no diabetes or those who have metabolic syndrome,” said study researcher Dr. Larry B. Goldstein, director of the Duke Stroke Center at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
“Moreover, statin treatment was similarly effective in reducing risk in patients with and without type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome,” he said.
The report was published in the June 13 online edition of the Archives of Neurology.
For the study, the research team analyzed data from the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction of Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) Trial. This trial was designed to look at whether taking high doses of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins (in this case, Lipitor) would reduce the risk of having a second stroke or TIA.
The trial did find that lowering cholesterol reduced the likelihood of another cardiovascular event in patients with recent stroke or TIA.
In their analysis, the researchers also looked at the risk of having another stroke, TIA or a heart attack among diabetics and people with metabolic syndrome and whether statin treatment could reduce that risk.
Of the 4,731 people in the trial who had had a stroke or TIA, the researchers identified 794 diabetics and 642 with metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions, including high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol, that increase the odds of developing diabetes and heart disease.
Loading ...
Loading ...