Management of vascular risk factors and co-morbidities in secondary stroke prevention
Medical approaches to reducing the risk of recurrent stroke following ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack, and other major vascular events, involves a targeted modification of vascular risk factors, including lifestyle factors (e.g. physical inactivity, smoking, and diet), hypertension, and hyperlipidaemia and glycaemic control. The INTERSTROKE study reported that ten potentially modifiable vascular risk factors were associated with about 90% of the population attributable risk for stroke. Modification of lifestyle risk factors remains a cornerstone of stroke prevention, and includes promoting increased physical activity, smoking cessation, adopting healthier dietary patterns, weight reduction in those who are overweight/obese, and avoiding high alcohol intake (and heavy episode alcohol intake). All patients with blood pressure levels greater than or equal to 140/90 mmHg should be treated with antihypertensive therapy (although some suggest a lower threshold in patients with non-cardioembolic stroke), with a recent trial suggesting that patients with small vessel ischaemic stroke may benefit from lowering blood pressure to less than 130/90 mmHg. Statin therapy in patients with elevated low-density lipoprotein is associated with a reduction in major vascular events after ischaemic stroke, with a more aggressive strategy adopted in patients with ischaemic stroke due to large vessel atherosclerosis. While sleep apnoea is a risk factor for stroke, treatment with continuous positive airway pressure did not reduce the risk of stroke in a recent, large clinical trial. The optimal approach to achieve high rates of vascular risk factor targets following stroke has not been identified, but evaluations of community-based interventions are ongoing.