The cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins - such as Lipitor (also known as simvastatin) or Zocor (simvastatin) - have the potential to prevent long-term disability following a Stroke, a new study shows.

The researchers, led by Dr. Majaz Moonis, found that patients who were taking statins before they had a stroke had a 70 percent better chance of being sent home from the hospital than stroke patients who were not on statins.

The study of 1618 patients detected a robust benefit even if patients began the drug just 4 weeks earlier, suggesting the drug has protective effects beyond lowering cholesterol.

Moonis, at the Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center Stroke Prevention Clinic in Worcester, said the benefits were even more striking for patients prescribed statins for the first time within 1 week after the Stroke.

These patients were 2.6 times more likely to be discharged home with little or no disability than were patients who did not receive statins after a stroke, said Moonis, who presented the findings here at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study results were based on an analysis of stroke patient records of the University HealthSystem Consortium of academic medical centers, mainly in the United States.

In the study, 14 percent of the patients were on statins before the stroke, 12 percent of patients were started on statins after the stroke, and 74 percent were not on statins at all.

These numbers suggest that a many patients who would benefit from statins are not receiving them, Moonis added. “You need to use statins on people in a much more aggressive way,” he said.

Many doctors may still be relying on the older standard of 130 as the target level for LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, Moonis said. The American Stroke Association now recommends an LDL of 100 or lower, mainly for lowering the risk of stroke in patients with heart disease, but also for other people.

He noted that average LDL levels of patients in his own stroke prevention clinic have now been reduced to between 70 and 80.

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