NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Only about half of individuals
who suffer a stroke and have elevated levels of harmful LDL
cholesterol are prescribed a statin, and among those who are
taking a statin, fewer than half meet recommended lipid goals,
according to results of a recent study.
Dr. Bruce Ovbiagele, from the University of California Los
Angeles School of Medicine, and colleagues evaluated data from
769 patients who had experienced an ischemic stroke — the type
of stroke caused by a blood clot in the brain that cuts off the
oxygen supply. These patients, whose average age was 69 years,
were deemed to be at high risk of heart disease in the future.
According to current guidelines, an LDL cholesterol level
of 130 mg/dL or higher should trigger initiation of statin
therapy. The goal of statin therapy is a LDL level of 100 mg/dL
or lower.
At baseline, 262 (34 percent) of high-risk stroke patients
had LDL cholesterol of 130 mg/dL or higher. Of these, 47
percent were not on statin therapy.
Among those who were on statin therapy, only 42 percent met
the treatment goal of LDL less than 100 mg/dL.
Writing in the journal Neurology, Ovbiagele and colleagues
say their data suggest that adherence to guidelines for statin
therapy “remains inadequate.”
“This is of concern,” they write, “since patients at high
risk for initial or recurrent coronary heart disease events
constitute the population most likely to benefit from
comprehensive risk factor management.”
SOURCE: Neurology, April 25, 2006.
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