Can High Cholesterol Levels Increase Your Stroke Risk? (2024)

Current guidelines set similar cholesterol goals for reducing the risk of stroke and the risk of coronary heart disease. These guidelines generally recommend that people without existing heart disease who do not smoke and have no other heart disease risk factors (such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, family history of heart disease) should maintain a total cholesterol level of less than 240 mg/dL, with LDL below 130 mg/dL and HDL above 40 mg/dL.

People with cardiovascular risk factors are advised to aim for even better cholesterol levels to better protect against heart disease and stroke. These individuals should maintain a total cholesterol level below 200 mg/dL, with LDL below 100 mg/dL, and HDL above 60 mg/dL.

What Increases Your Risk of Stroke?

High cholesterol is just one of a few things that can increase your risk of having a stroke. Other risk factors include:

• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Being overweight or obese
• Smoking and alcohol use
• Poor diet and sedentary lifestyle
• Older age
• A family history of stroke
• Females have a higher lifetime risk of stroke
• Use of certain medications such as hormonal birth control or blood thinners
• Being of African American, Indigenous American, or Hispanic origin
• Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), poorly formed veins and arteries in the brain that can rupture
• Medical conditions such as bleeding disorders and sleep apnea

How to Lower High Cholesterol to Reduce Stroke Risk

There are a number of changes you can make to your lifestyle than can help reduce your cholesterol levels and your risk of stroke. These include:

Change Your Diet

Eating a healthy diet is one of the best ways to reduce high cholesterol and lower your risk of stroke. Choose healthier fats and limit your intake of total fat and saturated fat. Avoid foods that are high in cholesterol.

Eat foods that are high in fiber and increase your intake of fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods such as whole grains, beans, and legumes. Eating fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids can help raise your HDL levels. Avoid foods that are high in sodium and limit your consumption of alcohol.

Exercise Regularly

Exercise can help improve your cholesterol levels. Talk to your healthcare provider about starting an exercise program. Ideally, you should be getting around 30 minutes of exercise at least five times a week.

Quit Smoking

Studies have found that smokers have higher LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and lower HDL levels. There is evidence that quitting smoking can help improve your blood cholesterol levels.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Maintaining a healthy weight can help you keep your cholesterol levels in check. If you are overweight or obese, talk to your healthcare provider about starting a diet and exercise program.

Cholesterol-Lowering Medications and Stroke Risk

Medications used to lower cholesterol levels—in particular, the class of drugs known as statins—have been shown to lower the risk of having a stroke and may reduce the severity of a stroke, if one occurs. By reducing levels of LDL, statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs help prevent plaque formation, which prevents stroke and heart disease.

In fact, statins have even been shown to reduce stroke risk in patients with normal cholesterol levels.

Statins can:

• Prevent plaques from forming
• Help stabilize existing plaque deposits
• Help make plaques less fatty and more fibrous, making them more resistant to rupture
  
• Reduce inflammation and help prevent clots from forming

Large research studies have drawn clear ties between the use of statins and reduced stroke risk. One meta-analysis (a study that reanalyzes the results of several other studies) found that statin use reduces stroke risk by 21% and that every 10%reduction in LDL levels resulted in a 15.6% reduction in stroke risk.

Studies of specific statins have shown even more striking results. Several studies have found that while statins offer a general reduction in stroke risk, the greatest benefit is seen in those who have not had a prior stroke. Though statins confer benefits to those who have already had at least one stroke or mini-stroke, the impact is weaker.

Other cholesterol-lowering medications have not matched the record of the statins. However, some small studies have shown protective effects, particularly by helping raise the level of HDL cholesterol. One study of Lopid (gemfibrozil), for example, showed the use of Lopid reduced the risk of stroke by 31%with the greatest benefits seen in patients with low initial levels of HDL.

Summary

High cholesterol can increase your risk of having a stroke. Lipid blood tests can tell you if your blood contains too much LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and total cholesterol. HDL cholesterol is considered "good" cholesterol; your blood test can also tell you if your HDL cholesterol is ideal or too low.

Some of the risk factors for stroke can't be controlled, such as older age and genetics. You can lower your risk, however, by making certain lifestyle changes such as adopting a healthy diet and exercising 30 minutes a day five days a week. If your cholesterol levels are dangerously high, ask your healthcare provider about cholesterol-lowering medications.

By Heather M. Ross
Heather M. Ross, PhD, DNP, FAANP is a nurse practitioner and PhD in Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology.