Ovbiagele says his study suggests that HIV-positive individuals and their doctors have to be vigilant and proactive to reduce the risk of stroke.

"Screening for high blood pressure should be regular and frequent and treated promptly," he said in a telephone interview. "Screening for high cholesterol should be regular, frequent, and treated promptly. So these are the kinds of things that clinicians and patients should be vigilant about looking for to try and avert a stroke from occurring."

This data was limited to U.S. patients, so he says it's not possible to say if the same pattern of strokes among people with HIV is present in other countries.