📰🧠🔬 STROKE STUDY HIGHLIGHTS – Medication adherence to secondary prevention after ischemic cerebrovascular disease: a real-world outcomes analysis by Stollberg SM, et al.

Ischemic cerebrovascular disease (ICD) is a major global health burden. This study examined medication adherence after an ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Researchers analysed 9,911 patients and found that many were not consistently taking medications recommended to help prevent another stroke.

Key Findings:
• Cholesterol-lowering medications had the highest adherence rates, but only 63% of patients took them regularly.
• About 50% of patients regularly took antihypertensive or antiplatelet medications.
• Women were less likely than men to remain on cholesterol-lowering treatment.
• Patients who consistently took cholesterol-lowering medications had a lower risk of death.
• Better adherence to blood pressure medication and anticoagulants also showed positive trends.
Key Takeaways:
Many patients did not receive or regularly take medications to help prevent another stroke after an ischemic cerebrovascular event. Poor adherence to cholesterol-lowering medications was linked to a higher risk of death, highlighting the importance of improving awareness, follow-up, and long-term medication adherence after stroke or TIA.

📄 Access the full article at: Stollberg SM, Signorell A, Luft AR, & Huber CA (2026). Medication adherence to secondary prevention after ischemic cerebrovascular disease: a real-world outcomes analysis. Frontiers in Neurology, 17, 1764948. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2026.1764948/full This is an open-access article under a CC BY 4.0 license.