If you could cut your stroke risk in half, would you do it?

Of course, most people would say. Strokes are potentially devastating or fatal.

The checklist inlcudes:

1. Keeping blood pressure under control.

2. Don’t smoke.

3. Abdominal obesity is a risk factor.

4. Diet needs to be a healthy one.

5. Physical activity should be at recommended levels.

Medpage Today

“There are 10 factors that appear to make up the vast majority of stroke risk, and half of those are modifiable, a large population study found.

“Hypertension appears to be the strongest predictor of stroke, along with smoking, abdominal obesity, diet, and physical activity, according to Martin J. O’Donnell, MB, PhD, of McMaster University in Hamilton in Ontario, Canada. (Emphasis added)

“This is good news in the sense that the causes of stroke are potentially modifiable, but that’s not going to be realized unless strategies are implemented and taken up,” O’Donnell said in an interview with MedPage Today.

“The results are from the INTERSTROKE study, a large, multicenter, case-control study that included patients from low- and middle-income countries, published online June 18 in The Lancet.”

Source: Medpage Today, June 18, 2010

Citation:Primary source: Lancet 2010; DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60834-3.