Low Triglycerides Tied to More Severe Stroke
(NY, Reuters Health, 6/29/04)

Dr. Tomasz Dziedzic of Jagiellonian University, in Krakow, Poland, and team, studied 863 patients with acute ischemic stroke, which results when blood flow to the brain is blocked. When patients were first admitted to the hospital, the researchers classified their strokes as either “severe” or “mild to moderate,” based on the Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS). They also tested the subjects’ triglyceride levels within 36 hours following stroke onset. The investigators found that the risk of severe stroke was 42% higher for patients with serum triglyceride levels below 2.3 millimoles per liter than for those with higher levels. These findings suggest that, contrary to popular belief, triglycerides have protective properties and should not be allowed to fall below a certain threshold.

(Stroke, June 2004)

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