'Mixed blessing' statins cut risk of stroke - but can trigger brain bleeds

Taking statins can significantly cut the risk of having a repeat stroke, research has shown.

The drugs have already been prescribed to millions of Britons because they are believed to cut the risk of heart attacks.

They do this by reducing a patient's cholesterol - which is also believed to be a risk factor for strokes.

A U.S. study found that those who had already had one ischaemic stroke - caused by a clot blocking a blood vessel in the brain - reduced their chances of having another by 16 per cent if they took a statin called atorvastatin.

However, a secondary analysis published in the journal Neurology discovered that this benefit was partially undermined by a slight increase in the risk of suffering a haemorrhagic stroke, where a ruptured blood vessel bleeds into the brain.

This type of stroke is far less common, accounting for just one in ten of all cases.

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Of those taking atorvastatin, 2.3 per cent experienced a haemorrhagic stroke compared with 1.4 per cent of those taking a placebo.

However, the study in Neurology also backed up the U.S. research's findings that statins are effective at lowering the risk of the more common ischaemic stroke.

Experts said yesterday that having high cholesterol is one of the biggest risk factors for a stroke and patients should not stop taking preventative drugs without seeking medical advice. Ellen

Mason, of the British Heart Foundation, said: 'Haemorrhagic strokes are rare in comparison to ischaemic strokes, which are caused by blood clots.

"Taking a statin, such as atorvastatin, reduces the risk of having an ischaemic stroke and people should not be frightened of taking these."

She added: "People who have had a haemorrhagic stroke before will probably continue to benefit from taking atorvastatin - as there is a substantial drop in the overall risk of heart attacks and ischaemic strokes, but only a small increased risk of haemorrhagic stroke."

Around 3.4million Britons are prescribed statins, which are said to save around 10,000 lives a year.

The five-year study involved 4,700 patients, who had suffered a full-blown stroke or mini-stroke.

It was funded by Pfizer - the manufacturer of atorvastatin, which is also known as Lipitor.

It looked at patients aged around 63 from Europe, Africa, Australia, the Middle East and the U.S., who were recruited within six months of suffering a stroke.

Most were already being treated with aspirin - which thins the blood, reducing the chances of having a heart attack - and those with high blood pressure were taking medication to lower it.

The researchers randomly assigned patients to receive either the maximum recommended dose of atorvastatin or an inactive pill.

The study found that 80mg a day of statins reduced the risk of fatal and non-fatal ischaemic strokes by 16 per cent, probably by lowering levels of cholesterol.

This compared with an increase in the risk of haemorrhagic strokes of 0.7 points - from 1.4 per cent to 2.3 per cent.

Dr Larry Goldstein, of Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, who led the study, said this small increase "must be balanced" against the overall drop in risk.