Blood Pressure and Stroke
A large international study has found that ten risk factors account for 90 percent of all the risk of stroke. Of that list, five risk factors usually related to lifestyle are responsible for a full 80 percent of stroke risk. According to the researchers these risk factors - high blood pressure, smoking, abdominal obesity, diet and physical activity - are modifiable and can be controlled.
The findings come from a study of 3,000 people who had had strokes and an equal number of healthy individuals with no history of stroke. The study also includes a brain scan of all participating stroke survivors, according to the researchers.
Across the board, high blood pressure was the most important factor, accounting for one-third of all stroke risk. Blood pressure, it was noted, plays a major role in both forms of stroke: ischemic, the most common form (caused by blockage of a brain blood vessel), and hemorrhagic or bleeding stroke, in which a blood vessel in the brain bursts.
Blood pressure is easily measured, and there are lots of treatments. Lifestyle modifications to control it include increasing physical activity and reducing salt intake. The other lifestyle risk factors are modifiable as well. High intake of fish and fruits, for example, is associated with a lower risk of stroke.
Many of the same risk factors have been reported in other studies, but this is the first stroke risk study to include both low- and middle-income participants in developing countries. The study confirms that high blood pressure is the leading cause of stroke in both developing and developed countries. This highlights the need for health authorities in those countries to develop strategies to reduce high blood pressure, salt intake and other risk factors.
