Can taking statins after a bleeding stroke lower risk of another stroke?

People who have had a stroke called an intracerebral hemorrhage who take cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may have a lower risk of having another stroke, especially ischemic stroke, compared to people who also had an intracerebral hemorrhage but were not taking statins, according to a new study published in the online issue of Neurology.

For the study, researchers looked at health records in Denmark and identified 15,151 people who had a first bleeding stroke.

People were followed from 30 days after their first bleeding stroke until the first occurrence of another stroke, death, or the end of follow-up, which on average lasted 3.3 years. Researchers then compared 1,959 people who had another stroke to 7,400 people who did not have another stroke who were similar in age, sex and other factors. Of those who had another stroke, 757 people, or 39%, took statins compared to 3,044 people, or 41%, of those who did not have a second stroke.

After adjusting for factors like high blood pressure, diabetes and alcohol use, statin use was associated with a 12% lower risk of another stroke.

Then they compared 1,073 people who had an ischemic stroke to 4,035 people who did not have another stroke. Of those who had an ischemic stroke, 427 people, or 40%, took statins compared to 1687 people, or 42%, of those who did not have another stroke.

After adjusting for similar factors, statin use was associated with a 21% lower risk of an ischemic stroke after the initial bleeding stroke.

Reference: David Gaist, Luis Alberto García Rodríguez, Jesper Hallas, Stine Munk Hald, Sören Möller, Birgit B Høyer, Magdy Selim, Larry B. Goldstein. Association of Statin Use with Risk of Stroke Recurrence After Intracerebral Hemorrhage. Neurology, 2023; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207792