Stroke Risk Plummets With Healthy Lifestyle

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter
Monday, August 11, 2008; 5:00 PM

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MONDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Living a healthy lifestyle can cut your risk of stroke by about 80 percent, new research suggests.

Women who pursued healthy habits -- not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly and drinking moderate amounts of alcohol -- had a 79 percent reduced risk of any stroke, and an 81 percent decreased risk of ischemic stroke. Men living healthy lives cut their overall risk of stroke by 69 percent and their risk of ischemic stroke by 80 percent. An ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke, and it occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked.

"We've previously found that a low-risk lifestyle was very important in preventing coronary heart disease and diabetes, and now we've also found that these healthy habits can lower your risk of stroke," said study author Stephanie Chiuve, a research associate in the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The findings are published in the Aug. 26 issue of Circulation.

In the United States, stroke remains the third leading cause of death, and a major cause of permanent disability, according to the study.

Using data from the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, Chiuve and her colleagues included more than 71,000 women and almost 44,000 men for the new study. The study contained information gathered every two years on smoking status, weight, physician-diagnosed information on high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and the use of medications, including aspirin and vitamin E supplements. Physical activity was assessed with a questionnaire.

The researchers defined a low-risk lifestyle by five factors: not smoking; at least 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity on most days; drinking no more than a glass of alcohol daily for women and up to two for men (one drink is 4 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or one-and-a-half ounces of hard liquor); having a body-mass index under 25 in middle age; and eating a healthy diet, which means a higher intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, soy, nuts and more lean meat, along with taking a multivitamin for at least five years.