Cholesterol-lowering drugs – statins – may improve the effectiveness of treatments for people who have just had a stroke, according to a study published online in the journal Stroke.
Ischemic stroke accounts for about 80 percent. all stroke cases. It develops when a blood clot clogs the artery that supplies blood to the brain. In connection with the ischemia of the nervous tissue, brain dysfunction and symptoms such as paresis or numbness of the half of the body, speech disorders, and sometimes drooping of the mouth corner, hand numbness appear.
People who have had a stroke should have a minimum of 4,5 hours. after the onset of symptoms, administer a thrombolytic drug, i.e. a drug that dissolves a blood clot in the vessel (the so-called tissue plasminogen activator). It is the only drug that works to address the cause of an ischemic stroke.
In the latest studies, all patients were given the drug and its effects were assessed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) three hours later.
They found that in 12 patients who regularly used statins to control their cholesterol levels, blood flow in the areas affected by stroke was restored to a greater extent and faster than in the remaining 19 patients. In the group using statins, the blood supply improved on average by 50%. areas, and in the second group – 13 percent.
Moreover, one month after stroke, patients using statins scored better in tests that assessed speech, motor skills, attention span, and sensation. This means that they recovered and recovered faster.
It has already been observed that stroke patients are better off when they take statins, but our research provides new data on the causes of these differences. Statins can simply improve the blood supply to areas of the brain that are prone to dying during a stroke, comments co-author Dr. Jin-Moo Lee.
It is now known that the therapeutic effects of statins are not only due to their lower cholesterol levels, the researchers reminded. These drugs also have a beneficial effect on endothelial cells, i.e. the linings of blood vessels, and increase the production of nitric oxide, which dilates the vessels.
For the time being, however, researchers are unable to answer the question of whether an improvement in blood supply to the brain after a stroke can only be obtained by those who use statins regularly, or whether it is enough to administer these drugs after a stroke together with a thrombolytic drug.
Therefore, Dr. Lee emphasizes that more research is needed to clarify this. (PAP)