Low cholesterol levels lead to an increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke

This study was published in the Annalls of Indian Academy of Neurology 2012 Jan;15(1):19-22

 

Study title and authors:

Low cholesterol as a risk factor for primary intracerebral hemorrhage: A case-control study.

Valappil AV, Chaudhary NV, Praveenkumar R, Gopalakrishnan B, Girija AS.

Department of Neurology, Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences, Calicut, Kerala, India.

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22412267

This study investigated the association between cholesterol levels and the risk of intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke. The study included 74 patints with intracerebral hemorrhage and 74 control subjects.

The study found:
(a) The intracerebral hemorrhage patients cholesterol levels were 11.5% lower than the control subjects.
(b) The intracerebral hemorrhage patients low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels were 11.0% lower than the control subjects.
(c) The intracerebral hemorrhage patients high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels were 9.0% lower than the control subjects.
(d) Those with the lowest cholesterol levels had a 115% increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhage.

The study shows the association between low cholesterol levels and an increased risk of intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke.