Question:

My mother recently suffered a stroke (well one TIA and four small strokes). They found full blockage of both carotid arteries (one small, one large) going up one side of her neck.

She’s always had high cholesterol but suffers terrible side effects from all of them and refuses to take them. She is still recovering from the deficiencies caused by her stroke and her latest blood work shows a total cholesterol of 174 and triglycerides of 505.

The doctor has prescribed Zocor to be started immediately. She doesn’t want to take it. She’s never had any trouble with her heart and does not have heart disease; however, her cerebral vascular system appears to be a mess.

Is she greatly increasing her risk for additional strokes if she continues to refuse this medicine to try and get that number down?

Answer:

I can’t give you a number that will express her individual risk, but I can tell you that the medications used to treat cholesterol are believed to reduce one’s risk for stroke.  Thus, if she can tolerate the medication and take it, it should be of benefit for her.

For more information:

Go to the Stroke health topic.