This animation shows the risks of stroke after a TIA/stroke in people not treated (top – red men) and treated (bottom – orange men) with medications (combination of antiplatelet, blood pressure and cholesterol lowering drugs). The boxes at the bottom show the difference in the number of patients having a stroke i.e. the number of strokes which would be prevented if 100 patients were treated over different time periods.
The risk of stroke in this group of patients in the first year is only 18% – compared with 25% for the “average” patient (as per previous animation) because this group excludes those patients with atrial fibrillation and carotid stenosis who have a higher than average risk of stroke.
The combination of antiplatelet treatment, statins and blood pressure lowering will reduce the risks by nearly half e.g. 18% to 10% in the first year, so if one treats 100 patients 8 of them will avoid a stroke in the first year because of the treatment. The number of people avoiding strokes gradually accumulates over time.
Page last reviewed: 22 Apr 2022
