MedWire News: People with high levels of blood fats called triglycerides and/or elevated levels of a form of cholesterol called non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol are at increased risk of having a stroke caused by clogging and narrowing (atherosclerosis) of a large artery in the brain, researchers have found.

“Low-density lipoprotein or ‘bad’ cholesterol has been the primary target for reducing the risk of stroke, but these results show that other types of cholesterol may be more strongly linked with stroke risk,” said lead researcher Dr Bruce Ovbiagele from the University of California in Los Angeles, USA.

Dr Ovbiagele and team studied data on 1049 people who were admitted to hospital over a 4-year period suffering from a stroke or mini-stroke. Of these, 247 were diagnosed with large-artery stroke, which is caused by atherosclerosis blocking blood flow in the large arteries in the brain.

The team found that patients with the highest levels of triglycerides were 2.7 times more likely to have suffered a large-artery stroke than those with the lowest levels of these blood fats.

Similarly, patients with the highest levels of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which is includes all types of cholesterol except for ‘good’ cholesterol, were 2.4 times more likely to have suffered a large-artery stroke than those with the lowest levels of this form of cholesterol.

Dr Ovbiagele said: “Because this type of cholesterol is included in the test that is normally ordered, and triglycerides are already reported, it would not be difficult to start paying closer attention to these factors in people at risk for large-artery stroke.”

Although high levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol were not associated with an increased risk of large-artery stroke in their study, the researchers stressed that it is still important to monitor and reduce high levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol to lower the risk of heart disease and other types of stroke.

The research appears in an advance online publication by the journal Neurology.