Where's the evidence?

doi:10.1136/bmj.b2095

Published 27 May 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2095
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2095

Letters

Secondary prevention in stroke

Where’s the evidence?

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

I am confused by Raine and colleagues’ enthusiasm forlipid lowering treatment in patients over the age of 80.¹

Firstly, the Cochrane review of interventions in the managementof serum lipids for preventing stroke recurrence states: "Thereis no evidence of benefit or harm from reducing serum cholesterollevels in patients with a history of stroke or transient ischaemicattack."²

Secondly, few studies on lipid lowering treatment have beendone in patients over 80.

Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2095

Paul A Hepple, GP principal¹

¹ Muirhouse Medical Group, Edinburgh EH4 4PL

paul.hepple@lothian.scot.nhs.uk

Competing interests: None declared.

Raine R, Wong W, Ambler G, Hardoon S, Petersen I, Morris R, et al. Sociodemographic variations in the contribution of secondary drug prevention to stroke survival at middle and older ages: cohort study. BMJ 2009;338:b1279. (16 April.)[Abstract/Free Full Text]
Manktelow B, Gillies C, Potter JF. Interventions in the management of serum lipids for preventing stroke recurrence. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2002;(3):CD002091.

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Sociodemographic variations in the contribution of secondary drug prevention to stroke survival at middle and older ages: cohort study: Rosalind Raine, Wun Wong, Gareth Ambler, Sarah Hardoon, Irene Petersen, Richard Morris, Mel Bartley, and David Blane
BMJ 2009 338: b1279. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]