Statins may treat blood vessel disorder that can lead to fatal strokes

"In a finding that could save thousands of lives a year, University of Utah School of Medicine researchers have shown that a blood vessel disorder leading to unpredictable, sometimes fatal, hemorrhagic strokes, seizures, paralysis or other problems is treatable with the same statin drugs that millions of people take to control high cholesterol. If the results of a study in mice are confirmed in a pilot trial with people, statins could provide a safe, inexpensive treatment for cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM), a disorder with no known drug therapy, according to U of U cardiologist Dean Y. Li, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Molecular Medicine Program and corresponding author of a study published January 18 in Nature Medicine online" - EurekAlert