A new study suggests that people taking some common medications may have a lower risk of suffering a hemorrhagic stroke due to a ruptured brain aneurysm. The study is published in the June 5, 2024, online edition of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The results do not prove that these drugs reduce the risk of this type of aneurysm; They only show an association.
“We urgently need new ways to prevent this type of stroke, which occurs at younger ages and with a higher mortality rate than other types of stroke,” said study author Jos Peter Kanning, MSc, of the Medical Center University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. “Our current surgical treatments for brain aneurysms have a risk of permanent disability and death that often outweighs the potential benefits, so preventing rupture with a non-invasive drug would be very beneficial.”
For the study, researchers looked at 4,879 people who had ruptured brain aneurysms, called aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhages. Each of those people was compared to nine people of the same age and sex, for a total of 43,911 people who did not have ruptured brain aneurysms.
The researchers then looked at electronic medical records to see what prescription medications people were taking.
They found that four medications were associated with a lower risk of brain aneurysm rupture: the hypertension drug lisinopril; the cholesterol drug simvastatin; the diabetes drug metformin; and the drug tamsulosin, prescribed for an enlarged prostate.
After adjusting for other factors that could affect stroke risk, such as high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol abuse and the total number of other health conditions, the researchers found that people currently taking lisinopril had 37% less more likely to suffer a ruptured brain aneurysm than those who do not take the drug. People taking simvastatin were 22% less likely to have a stroke. Those taking metformin were 42 percent less likely to have a stroke and those taking tamsulosin were 45 percent less likely.
The researchers also found an increased risk of brain aneurysm rupture in people taking four medications: the blood thinner warfarin; the antidepressant venlafaxine; the antipsychotic and antiemetic drug prochlorperazine; and the painkiller co-codamol.
“Future research is needed to investigate these associations and determine whether these medications are effective in reducing the risk of hemorrhagic stroke,” Kanning said. “This work could also help us identify additional risk factors for subarachnoid hemorrhage, which could lead to new therapies to control aneurysms.”
One limitation of the study was that the researchers looked at medication prescriptions. People may not take their medications or take them incorrectly.
The study was supported by the European Research Council.