It seems women over 55
need to worry more about having a stroke than their male counterparts
do.
They have a one-in-five
chance of suffering a stroke during their lifetime, while the
odds are one-in-six for men in the same age group, a new analysis
shows.
It's the first time
researchers have quantified the lifetime risk of stroke among
men and women in the United States.
"It gives you an
idea of the magnitude of the problem," says study author Dr.
Sudha Seshadri, an assistant professor of neurology at the Boston
University School of Medicine. "We did not know that before
for stroke, surprising as that may seem."
That statistical
snapshot is based on data from the Framingham Heart Study, a
long-running, landmark look at the factors that contribute to
heart disease.
The authors of the
new analysis presented their findings Feb. 6 at the American
Stroke Association's annual meeting in San Diego.
The results also
highlight the critical role that high blood pressure plays in
boosting stroke risk. At every age, people's risk of stroke
increased with higher baseline blood pressure, suggesting that
elevated blood pressure is a powerful predictor of stroke risk,
the researchers found.
Stroke is the third-leading
cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of long-term
disability in adults, according to the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
A stroke occurs
when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted. About 80
percent of all strokes are "ischemic," caused by blood clots
that block a blood vessel or artery in the brain. The other
major type, hemorrhagic stroke, occurs when a blood vessel in
the brain bursts, bleeding into the spaces surrounding the brain
cells.
Signs of stroke
include sudden numbness or weakness, especially on one side
of the body, or sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding
speech. Stroke victims may suddenly have trouble seeing or walking.
They may experience dizziness or loss of balance or coordination.
The Boston University
researchers studied 4,883 participants from the original Framingham
study who lived stroke-free to age 55. The participants were
followed every two years for up to 40 years or until they had
a stroke, developed Alzheimer's disease or died.
A total of 859 participants
suffered a stroke. Of these, 86 percent had an ischemic stroke.
For people 75 years
old or younger, short-term risk of stroke was higher in men.
But for women the lifetime risk of stroke was always higher,
the researchers found.
The authors used
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute guidelines defining
"normal" blood pressure as less than 120 over less than 80.
People who had "stage
1" hypertension, meaning a blood pressure of 140 or greater
over 90 or greater, were twice as likely to have a stroke as
people with normal blood pressure.
For people who don't
take high blood pressure seriously, particularly younger adults,
the news may boost blood pressure awareness, says Dr. Alison
Schecter, an assistant professor of medicine specializing in
women's cardiac prevention at Mount Sinai School of Medicine
in New York City.
"It gives a huge
impetus to control blood pressure when you're younger because
it affects things when you're older," she says.
Seshadri believes
the nation may need to attack the problem of stroke the same
way it has smoking.
"I think physicians
and public health officials should probably be looking at blood
pressure as a big population risk factor for stroke," she says.
That may require exploring ways to cut salt in people's diets,
for example, or increasing exercise.
More information
To learn more about
stroke, visit the National
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. For more
on high blood pressure, check with the American
Heart Association.
Reference
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