Pre-stroke lifestyle tied to long term risk of more strokes, dementia

Reuters (7/21, Doyle) reports that research published in Stroke suggests “having heart disease risk factors” prior to “suffering a stroke may influence a person’s risk for a second stroke or dementia years later.” Investigators studied approximately 1,200 individuals older than 45 who had experienced a first stroke and nearly 5,000 individuals who had not had a stroke. After one “year of recovery, stroke survivors were about three times as likely as others to have another stroke and twice as likely to develop dementia.” The researchers found that “for stroke survivors, having high blood pressure, diabetes, low levels of good cholesterol or smoking earlier in life accounted for almost 40 percent of the risk for second strokes and 10 percent of risk for post-stroke dementia.”

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— “Pre-stroke lifestyle tied to long term risk of more strokes, dementia,” Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, July 21, 2016.

Posted in In The News.