After suffering a first stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), people with diabetes are at greater risk of having another stroke or a heart attack, a new study confirms. But, aggressively lowering cholesterol can help reduce that risk, the researchers report. “Patients who had a stroke or TIA and who have diabetes are at higher risk of having another stroke as compared to patients who have no diabetes or those who have metabolic syndrome,” said study researcher Dr. Larry B. Goldstein, director of the Duke Stroke Center at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.