2 Low-Cost Drugs May Prevent Strokes

A three-year study of 170,024 patients has found that two low-cost medications – one for lowering cholesterol and one for lowering blood pressure – taken for two years reduced their risk of having a heart attack or stroke by more than 60% for the following year.

The patients were divided into three groups at the start of the study. The high-exposure group was composed of 21,292 patients. They took both medications  (40 milligrams of lovastatin and 20 milligrams of lisinopril) more than half the time throughout the two years. The amount of time they took the medications was determined by a review of pharmacy records. The low-exposure group of 47,268 people took the two medications less than half the time, while 101,464 people did not take the medications and were considered to be no-exposure.

According to a press release issued by Kaiser Permanente,

The researchers found that among the study population as a whole, there were 21 heart attacks and strokes per 1,000 people in 2006. Among the 47,268 people in the group that had low exposure to the drugs, there were 726 fewer heart attacks and strokes than in the no exposure group, equivalent to a reduction of 15 heart attacks and strokes per 1,000 people. Among the 21,292 people in the high- exposure group, there were 545 fewer heart attacks and strokes, equivalent to a reduction of 26 heart attacks and strokes per 1,000 people. The study estimated this effect to be a 60 percent savings of these events.

This is a good finding because it shows that it may be possible to significantly reduce heart and stroke events.

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