What is the most important modifiable risk factor for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke?

Vice President, Primary Care, Eisenhower Medical Center; Clinical Professor, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

Dr. Scherger reports no financial relationships relevant to this field of study.

SYNOPSIS: Controlling 10 modifiable risk factors would prevent 90.7% of strokes, according to results from a 32-country study.

SOURCE: O’Donnell MJ, Chin SL, Rangarajan S, et al. Global and regional effects of modifiable risk factors associated with acute stroke in 32 countries. Lancet 2016; Jul 15 doi: http//dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30506-2. [Epub ahead of print].

The INTERSTROKE investigators from 32 countries in Asia, the Americas, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and Africa conducted a case-control study of patients suffering acute stroke compared with controls. Researchers compared 13,447 acute stroke cases (10,388 with ischemic stroke and 3,059 with hemorrhagic stroke) with 13,472 matched controls. The investigators identified 10 modifiable risk factors that may have prevented 90.7% of strokes.

The most important modifiable risk factor is hypertension. Eliminating high blood pressure would reduce stroke risk by 48%. There were regional variations, with hypertension causing about 39% of strokes in North America, Australia, and Western Europe, and nearly 60% of strokes in Southeast Asia.

The other modifiable risk factors, with obvious overlap in many patients are:

  • Physical inactivity: 36%
  • Hyperlipidemia: 27%
  • Poor diet: 23%
  • Obesity: 19%
  • Smoking: 12%
  • Heart disease: 9%
  • Alcohol: 6%
  • Diabetes: 4%
  • Stress: 6%

COMMENTARY

Stroke is the third leading cause of death and a major cause of disability, and as this study shows is highly preventable. Unhealthy lifestyle leads to more than 90% of all strokes worldwide. The same could be said of heart disease and many cancers. Most instances of poor health and premature demise are self-inflicted.

An argument can be made about personal responsibility in avoiding preventable chronic illness and events such as stroke. Individuals are in charge of their own lifestyle decisions. However, one also can make an argument that these risk factors are a public health problem, with culture and environment leading to poor health choices. In his book Fat Chance, Robert Lustig from the University of California, San Francisco makes this argument forcefully.1 Lustig points to the ill effects of added sugars and high fructose corn syrup leading to obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and fatty liver, with the food industry largely to blame by hooking the population on these addictive sweets. The public health response has been lukewarm at best.

Science is coming together with medical practice to put more focus on modifiable risk factors in chronic disease and preventing major events such as stroke. Had this study been conducted 20 years ago, smoking would have been a much greater factor. We have the resources to become much healthier worldwide by adopting healthy lifestyles and protecting the environment. The public is becoming better educated in this area, and those businesses that sell unhealthy products are beginning to feel the effect. Physicians, especially those in primary care, should be “captains” in the battle against the poor health choices that surround us every day.

REFERENCE

  1. Lustig R. Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease. New York: Penguin Group; 2012.

Controlling 10 modifiable risk factors would prevent 90.7% of strokes, according to results from a 32-country study.

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Stroke is dangerous and deadly — the No. 5 killer and a leading cause of disability in America. But you can control and treat several risk factors for stroke.

What is the most important modifiable risk factor for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke?

What is the most important modifiable risk factor for ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke?

Stroke patients more likely to die in rural hospitals than in urban ones

Compared with stroke patients living in cities, researchers found those treated at rural hospitals were about half as likely to receive clot-busting medication; about one-third less likely to undergo a thrombectomy procedure to remove a stroke-causing clot; and more likely to die of any type of stroke before leaving the hospital (6.9% versus 5.8%).

What is the most significant modifiable risk factor for hemorrhagic stroke?

Hypertension. Hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factor for stroke, with a strong, direct, linear, and continuous relationship between blood pressure and stroke risk.

Is the most important risk factor for both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke?

HBP is the single most important modifiable risk factor for both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. pressure. This at least doubles their lifetime risk of stroke, independent of other risk factors. Long-term control of high blood pressure at target levels significantly reduces stroke risk.

What are modifiable risk factors for ischemic stroke?

Age, sex, and race/ethnicity are nonmodifiable risk factors for both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, while hypertension, smoking, diet, and physical inactivity are among some of the more commonly reported modifiable risk factors.

What is the most highest major risk factor for suffering a hemorrhagic stroke?

High blood pressure is a leading cause of stroke. It occurs when the pressure of the blood in your arteries and other blood vessels is too high. There are often no symptoms of high blood pressure. Get your blood pressure checked often.