Healthy Lifestyle Cuts Stroke Risk for Women

Recent study results suggest that women may cut their risk of stroke by more than half simply by eating a healthy diet and following a healthy lifestyle. Susanna C. Larsson, PhD, of the Karolinska Instituet in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues enrolled 31,696 Swedish women with an average age of about 60 for their study. Participants completed a 350-item questionnaire about their diet and lifestyle, and were followed for an average of 10-years. The researchers examined the impact of 5 factors that make up a healthy lifestyle on stroke risk: healthy diet (fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products); moderate alcohol consumption (3-9 drinks per week); never smoking; physically active (40 minutes/day moderate exercise, 60 minutes/week vigorous exercise); and healthy body mass index (below 25). Results showed that the risk of stroke steadily decreased with each additional healthy lifestyle factor, for example women with all 5 factors had a 54% lower risk of stroke compared with women with none of the 5 healthy factors. "Because the consequences of stroke are usually devastating and irreversible, prevention is of great importance," said Dr Larsson. "These results are exciting because they indicate that a healthy diet and lifestyle can substantially reduce the risk of stroke, and these are lifestyle choices that people can make or improve." The 5 factors reduced the risk of stroke caused by cerebral infarction, no relationship between the healthy factors and the risk of hemorrhagic stroke was observed.