Derdeyn is investigating how drugs designed to lower cholesterol levels also reduce some individuals' risk of stroke.
Most strokes occur because an artery in the brain becomes temporarily or permanently blocked.
A major cause of strokes and of heart attacks is atherosclerosis, a disease of the blood vessels leading to a cholesterol coating inside arteries that can prevent the vessels from adjusting to blood flow. Cholesterol also can build up to form thicker deposits, which can produce blocked arteries and lead to stroke, in which brain cells die after being deprived of oxygen and nutrients in the blood for a few minutes or more. Speech impairment, paralysis or other complications may result. Drugs called statins lower the risk of atherosclerosis by hindering the liver's ability to make cholesterol. The liver responds by removing more cholesterol from the blood so that less of it is available to damage the inside of blood vessels.