subject: 10 Factors That Cause 90% of Strokes [print this page] 10 Factors That Cause 90% of Strokes 10 Factors That Cause 90% of Strokes
Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide, and the third largest cause in the US behind heart disease and cancer. It's the primary cause of serious, long-term disability across the globe. A new study of 3000 people from 22 countries who suffered strokes over a three-year period identified 10 common risk factors in 90% of the stroke victims. The 10 factors were:
Hypertension (high blood pressure). This is by far the biggest risk factor, especially in people younger than 45. Hypertension is treated with life style changes and blood pressure medication.
Smoking. The risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and decreases rapidly when you quit smoking.
Abdominal obesity. Interestingly, body mass index was not associated with stroke, but waist to hip fat ratio (the classic apple vs pear shape) was.
Poor diet. Increased consumption of fish and fruit (but surprisingly not vegetables) decreased stroke risk, while risk rose with consumption of red meat, organ meats, eggs, fried foods, pizza, salty snacks and lard.
Inactivity. Risk of stroke decreased with physical activity.
Blood lipids. Levels of blood lipids such as cholesterol were related to the risk of ischemic stroke (the most common type), but not hemorrhagic stroke. High cholesterol is rampant in American, with cholesterol medications the second top-selling class of drugs in the US.
Heart disease. Not surprisingly, heart disease is a risk factor in both heart attacks and strokes.
Diabetes. The study underlined the importance of properly managing diabetes with diet and if necessary, diabetes medication to reduce stroke risk.
Stress. Both stress and depression increased the likelihood of a stroke.
Alcohol use. 30 drinks a month or binge drinking increased stroke risk, but moderate drinking (less than 30 drinks a month) reduced it.
While these risk factors are not news to the medical community, some of the statistics are shocking. The first five of these ten factors - high blood pressure, smoking, abdominal obesity, poor diet and physical inactivity - are responsible for a full 80% of stroke risk.
The study results were published in the Lancet in June of 2010. The researchers stressed that interventions to reduce blood pressure and smoking and to promote physical activity and a healthy diet could substantially reduce the burden of stroke worldwide.
They suggested that, of these top risk factors, blood pressure was the most amenable to change even in low-income settings because screening programs are inexpensive and easy to administer, and blood pressure is readily reduced by inexpensive generic drugs and non-pharmacological approaches like reducing the amount of salt in the diet.
A second phase of the study is underway, with researchers planning to enroll 20,000 participants. The second phase will focus on the importance of risk factors in different regions, ethnic groups and types of stroke, and study the association between genetics and stroke risk.
