According to a study in the journal Neurology, people who have high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, or smoke are at a higher risk of stroke, with more severe consequences. Researchers found that controlling these risk factors, especially high blood pressure, is critical to preventing serious and disabling strokes. Researchers emphasize the need to control these risk factors, especially in areas where stroke rates are rising.
People with certain health conditions or habits -- such as high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat), or smoking -- are not only at higher risk for stroke but may also experience more severe strokes than people without these risk factors, according to a recent study published in the American Academy of Neurology's medical journal Neurology.
"Stroke can lead to disability and even death, but people can modify some risk factors through lifestyle changes or medications," said study author Catriona Reddin, MD, PhD, University of Galway, Ireland, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "Our findings highlight the importance of controlling stroke risk factors, especially high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and smoking, to prevent serious and disabling strokes."
The study involved 26,948 people from 32 countries, with an average age of 62. Among them, half had suffered a stroke and half had not. Participants without stroke were matched on age and gender to those with stroke.
Among stroke patients, 4,848 had severe strokes and 8,612 had mild to moderate strokes. Definitions of severe stroke range from being unable to walk or take care of yourself without assistance to requiring ongoing care to death. A mild to moderate stroke is defined as someone who has no symptoms to someone who requires some personal care assistance but can walk without assistance.
Researchers evaluated several stroke risk factors, including:
High blood pressure (above 140/90 mmHg)
atrial fibrillation
diabetes
high cholesterol
smoking
Drinking quantity
Diet quality
lack of exercise
psychological and social stress
Excess abdominal fat (measured as waist-to-hip ratio)
The researchers compared the importance of risk factors in patients with severe strokes and mild-to-moderate strokes with those without strokes. The researchers also compared the importance of risk factors in stroke patients, matching and comparing patients with severe strokes to those with mild to severe strokes.
A total of 74% of those with severe strokes had high blood pressure, compared with 72% of those with mild to moderate strokes. In terms of atrial fibrillation, 11% of patients with severe strokes had atrial fibrillation, compared with 9% of patients with mild to moderate strokes. Of both groups, 30% were current smokers.
After adjusting for age, sex, country and stroke type, the researchers found that people with hypertension were 3.2 times more likely to have a severe stroke and 2.9 times more likely to have a mild to moderate stroke than people without hypertension.
They also found that people with atrial fibrillation were 4.7 times more likely to have a severe stroke and 3.6 times more likely to have a mild to moderate stroke than people without atrial fibrillation.
Researchers found that compared with non-smokers, smokers were 1.9 times more likely to have a severe stroke and 1.7 times more likely to have a mild to moderate stroke.
"Our findings highlight the importance of controlling high blood pressure, which is the most important modifiable risk factor for stroke globally. This is particularly important in low- and middle-income countries, where rates of hypertension and stroke are rising rapidly at younger ages," Redding said.
One limitation of the study is that some factors that may contribute to stroke severity were not measured. For example, Reddin noted that smoking is linked to factors such as cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which may also contribute to increased stroke severity.
Compiled from /scitechdaily