Lowering Cholesterol Lowers Women's Stroke Risk

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"This is confirmation of what most of us in the field expect," said Dr. Matthew Fink, professor of neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College and chief of the division of stroke and critical care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. "Those of us who care for patients treat them with statins to decrease cholesterol with the assumption that this correlation exists. Now, we have solid research to base our decisions on," he said.

Fink added that while the study is solid and dealt with a good database, its participants are not necessarily representative of the general U.S. population, since they were mostly white and health care professionals, likely meaning they were also more educated.

"Level of education also correlates with health," Fink said. "If a similar study was done looking at a cross section of the population, there may be even higher rates of stroke and other atherosclerotic complications. We don't know."

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In addition to this limitation, the study's authors also pointed out that cholesterol levels were measured only once during the study.

Still, both Fink and Kurth said that the findings should be a wake-up call for women and men to start paying attention to their cholesterol levels, even if they're feeling otherwise healthy. Lifestyle changes such as a healthy diet, exercise, preventing obesity, not smoking, and drinking alcohol in moderation can help prevent high cholesterol, they explained, and patients can turn to medications if these interventions don't bring down their numbers.

"Don't wait until you become sick, have a heart attack, stroke, or TIA [transient ischemic attack or "mini stroke"] before you start paying attention to your weight, diet, and exercise. Start early, in your 30s and 40s" said Fink. "If the known risk factors for stroke are addressed in an effective way, you can reduce your risk by 50 to 80 percent. We know what to do to lower the risk -- the difficulty is getting people to pay attention and to change their ways."

More information

For more on women and stroke, visit the American Heart Association.

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