Got Statins? If So, You May Up Your Risk of a Brain Bleed by 50%

Don’t get me wrong, there are mixed data out there. 


For example, we’re told that Statins reduce your risk of stroke and that there’s scientific research behind that assertion, and the barrage of advertisements you watch on TV, hear on the radio, and see in print. 


But now, another study shows that these same “stroke-preventing” meds increase the risks of a second stroke in some patients, far outweighing any other heart benefits from the drugs.


“Our analysis indicates that in settings of high recurrent intracerebral hemorrhage risk, avoiding statin therapy may be preferred,” Dr. Brandon Westover of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and colleagues wrote in the Archives of Neurology.


Increase the Risk by 50%
Here are the numbers. This doctor said patients who’ve already had one stroke have a 22 percent risk of a second stroke when they take statins, compared with a 14 percent risk in people who are not taking a statin. 


The researchers have no idea how statins increase the risk that these patients will have a bleeder in their brains. All they know is that it happens.  


Don’t Expect Statins To Go Away
Statins are the biggest cash cow on earth (literally) for drug makers: Pfizer’s Lipitor or atorvastatin has global sales of $11 billion a year while AstraZeneca’s Crestor has global sales of more than $5 billion. 


Statins may raise stroke risk in some: study | Reuters


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