Low cholesterol levels lead to a 20.2% increase in death rates in those who have had a stroke

This study was published in the European Journal of Neurology 2011 Dec 5

Study title and authors:

Serum cholesterol levels and survival after rtPA treatment in acute stroke.

Roquer J, Cuadrado-Godia E, Rodríguez-Campello A, Jiménez-Conde J, Martínez-Rodríguez JE, Giralt E, Ois A.Servei de Neurologia, Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar-IMIM, Barcelona Grup de Recerca Neurovascular, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22136724

The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of cholesterol levels on 3-month mortality in 220 patients with ischaemic stroke treated with intravenous rtPA (to breakdown blood clots) and admitted to a monitored acute stroke unit.

The study found that those with the lowest cholesterol had a 20.2% higher death rate at 3 months compared to those with the highest cholesterol.