Background and Purpose:We evaluated the impact of lifestyle factors on the risk of ischemic stroke. Methods: We used a nested case-control design. The cases comprised 163 persons (median age 69 years) admitted to a stroke unit and diagnosed with acute cerebral infarction. All cases had earlier participated in the North Trflndelag Health Survey. The controls comprised 567 participants from the North Trgndelag Health Survey, matched by sex and year of birth.Results: Raised systolic (/?< 0.001) and diastolic (p=0.02) blood pressure, antihypertensive treatment (p<0.001), previous myocardial infarction (p<0.001), prior stroke (p=0.002), diabetes (p<0.001), and former daily smoking (p=0.02) were identified as significant risk factors by univariate conditional logistic regression. No difference in risk was detected at different levels of alcohol consumption, salt intake, physical activity, or body mass index. Current smokers had virtually the same risk as nonsmokers. No association was found between stroke and the number of cigarettes smoked per day or the number of years of smoking. Multivariate conditional logistic regression identified diabetes (p=0.002), raised systolic blood pressure (p<0.001), and former daily smoking (p=0.01) as significant and independent risk factors. Previous myocardial infarction (p=0.07), previous stroke (p=0.1), and current daily smoking (p=0.1) were of marginal significance.Conclusions: The established medical risk factors for stroke are confirmed. With the possible exception of smoking, we have not identified any lifestyle factor with a significant impact on the risk of ischemic stroke. {Stroke 1992^3:829-834) KEY WORDS • cerebral infarction • cerebrovascular disorders • lifestyle • risk factors
Large-scale screening for HH can be performed at a relatively low cost if combined with a health survey programme. The yield in terms of newly discovered cases is considerable, but few cases were found seriously ill. Better knowledge of the natural course of HH is necessary if we are to be able to estimate the cost-effectiveness of large-scale screening.
Background and Purpose-Few studies have reported a protective effect of physical activity on stroke in women, particularly among elderly women. This study was conducted to examine the association between different levels of leisure-time physical activity and stroke mortality in a large prospective study of middle-aged and elderly women. Methods-We conducted a 10-year mortality follow-up of women aged Ն50 years, free from stroke at baseline (nϭ14 101), who participated in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Survey in Norway during 1984 -1986. Main outcome measures were relative risk of stroke mortality according to increasing levels of physical activity, with the least active group used as reference. Results-In groups aged 50 to 69, 70 to 79, and 80 to 101 years, the relative risk of dying decreased with increasing physical activity, after adjustment for potentially confounding factors. In groups aged 50 to 69 and 70 to 79 years, the most active women had an adjusted relative risk of 0.42 (95% CI, 0.24 to 0.75) and 0.56 (95% CI, 0.36 to 0.88), respectively. In the group aged 80 to 101 years, there was a consistent negative association with physical activity; the adjusted relative risk for the most active was 0.57 (95% CI, 0.30 to 1.09). Conclusions-Physical activity was associated with reduced risk of death from stroke in middle-aged and elderly women.This association persisted after we excluded individuals with prevalent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease at baseline and women who died during the first 2 years of follow-up. These observations strengthen the evidence that physical activity should be part of a primary prevention strategy against stroke in women. (Stroke. 2000;31:14-18.)
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