Published in the journal Neurology, a large retrospective cohort study of over 12,000 patients from 40 hospitals in the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry.1 The study looked at the risk of death following stroke or TIA and whether patients had been prescribed antihypertensive medications.

It turns out in this study a 23% reduction in cardiovascular mortality as well as a reduction in all-cause mortality were seen in patients prescribed an antihypertensive following a stroke or TIA. The take home message should be clear.

Reference

1. Andrew NE, Kim J, Thrift AG, et al. Prescription of antihypertensive medication at discharge influences survival following stroke. Neurology. 2018;90:e745-e753.