Healthy lifestyle has been associated with decreased risk of coronary heart disease. In contrast, little is known about its association with stroke risk.
An article published in the July 10, 2006 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine attempts to clarify this issue. The researchers followed a group of 37 636 women aged less than 45 years for a total duration of 10 years to determine the likelihood of stroke based on their lifestyle.
Healthy lifestyle was classified as:-
- Person has never smoked
- Alcohol consumption between 4 & 10.5 drinks per week
- Exercise more than 4 times per week
- Body mass index (BMI) < 22
- Diet rich in cereal fiber, folate and omega-3 fatty acids, with a high ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fat, and low in trans fat and glycemic load
The participants were assigned scores from 0 to 4 depending on the number of healthy lifestyle parameters they followed with 4 being the healthiest.
At the end of 10 years the researchers found that patients having a higher score were less likely to develop an ischemic stroke. In conclusion the authors write:-
“In this large prospective cohort of apparently healthy women, a healthy lifestyle consisting of abstinence from smoking, low body mass index, moderate alcohol consumption, regular exercise, and healthy diet was associated with a significantly reduced risk of total and ischemic stroke but not of hemorrhagic stroke. Our findings underscore the importance of healthy behaviors in the prevention of stroke.â€
Reference – Archives of Internal Medicine
Technorati Tags: Health, Lifestyle, Healthy living, Stroke
