Ladies, it's not too late to reduce stroke risk in middle age

Starting to exercise regularly, even in middle age, can help reduce a woman’s risk of experiencing a stroke later in life. — Filepic

A recently published study indicates that it may not be too late for middle-aged women to change their lifestyle habits to lower their risk of having a stroke.

Women are generally more likely than men to have a stroke, die from stroke, and have worse health and physical function after a stroke, according to a press release from the American Heart Association.

In women, the first stroke comes at age 75 on average.

Researchers have hypothesised that making changes during middle age can possibly reduce the burden stroke places on women.

The study published on April 9 (2020) in the journal Stroke, a journal of the American Stroke Association, found that women can substantially reduce their risk of stroke by quitting smoking, exercising, choosing to consume healthy foods and maintaining a healthy weight.

“We found that changing to a healthy lifestyle, even in your 50s, still has the potential to prevent strokes,” said Dr Goodarz Danaei, lead author and Bernard Lown Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, United States.

“Women who made lifestyle modifications in middle age reduced their long-term risk of total stroke by nearly a quarter, and ischaemic stroke – the most common type of stroke – by more than one-third.”

In the observational study, researchers analysed the Nurses’ Health Study. The study was composed of nearly 60,000 mostly white, middle-aged women who enrolled at an average age of 52.

On average, they continued the study for 26 years.

Among the lifestyle habits studied for their impact on stroke were quitting smoking, gradual weight loss for women who were overweight and daily exercise for 30 minutes or more.

They also reviewed the effects of modifying the diet to include more consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish and whole grains, while not eating processed meat, eating less red meat and drinking less alcohol.

During the 26-year follow-up period, researchers discovered that:

• 4.7% of women with no lifestyle interventions had a stroke of any type
• 2.4% had an ischaemic stroke, which is one that occurs when there’s an obstruction to a vessel that supplies blood to the brain, and
• 0.7% had haemorrhagic stroke, which is one that occurs when a weakened vessel ruptures and bleeds into the brain surrounding it.

It was estimated that daily exercise, quitting smoking and weight loss lowered the risk of total stroke by 25% and ischaemic stroke by 36%.

The risk of total stroke was reduced by 23% following maintained dietary modifications.

Regardless of the predominant racial and gender makeup of the study, Dr Danaei said that “there are other studies to support that the proportional changes in stroke risk from lifestyle and dietary modifications may be generalisable to men.

“We also estimate that exercising 30 minutes or more daily may reduce the risk of stroke by 20%.” – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Tribune News Service