Stroke, alcohol, COPD and statins

Poor adherence increases stroke risk
European Heart Journal (2013) doi:10.1093/eurheartj/eht219

Further evidence that nurses should encourage adherence to antihypertensives emerged recently from a study that enrolled 73,527 patients with hypertension aged at least 30 years who did not have a history of stroke or cardiovascular disease.

During average follow up lasting about seven years, 2144 patients died from stroke and 24,560 were hospitalised after a stroke. After two years follow up, non-adherent patients were 3.81 times more likely to die following a stroke than those who had consistently taken antihypertensives. After 10 years, non-adherent patients were 3.01 times more likely to suffer a stroke.