Increased Ischemic Stroke Risk Associated with Certain Medications for Nausea and Vomiting

Every year in France, 140,000 people have a stroke 1 . Around 80% are ischemic strokes or cerebral infarctions, which occur when a brain artery is obstructed by a blood clot. Studies have shown that the risk of ischemic stroke is increased by the use of antipsychotics: medications with antidopaminergic 2 properties that are commonly prescribed in psychiatry. Researchers from Inserm and Université de Bordeaux (Bordeaux Population Health Research Center) and Bordeaux University Hospital evaluated the ischemic stroke risk associated with exposure to other antidopaminergic medications-antiemetics, which are very commonly used in the symptomatic treatment of nausea and vomiting. The findings of this study, which were obtained by analyzing French national health insurance reimbursement data, show a link between the use of these medications and the risk of ischemic stroke. These findings have been published in British Medical Journal . Since the early 2000s, the use of antipsychotic medications indicated in psychiatry has been associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke.