WASHINGTON: A good cardiovascular lifestyle can reduce the risk of stroke by 43% in people who are genetically predisposed to it, a new study has shown.
research was led by UHealth Houston And the findings were published in the journal American Heart Association,
The study included 11,568 adults aged 45 to 64 who were stroke-free at baseline and followed for an average of 28 years. The levels of heart health were based on the American Heart Association’s Life Simple 7 recommendations, which include stopping smoking, eating better, getting activity, losing weight, managing blood pressure, controlling cholesterol, and lowering blood sugar. The lifetime risk of stroke was calculated according to the stroke polygenic risk score, with those who had more genetic risk factors associated with a higher scoring risk of stroke.
“Our study confirms that modifying lifestyle risk factors, such as controlling blood pressure, can offset the genetic risk of stroke,” said Mary Fornage, PhD, senior author and professor of molecular medicine and human genetics at the Institute of Molecular Medicine at UTHealth Houston. “We can use genetic information to determine who is at higher risk and encourage them to adopt a healthier cardiovascular lifestyle, such as following the AHA’s Simple 7 of Life, to reduce that risk and encourage them to live longer.” To live a long, healthy life.” Fornage is Lawrence and Johanna Favorot Exclusive Professor in Cardiology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 795,000 people suffer a stroke each year in the US. This equates to someone having a stroke every 40 seconds, and someone dying of a stroke every 3.5 minutes. Stroke is a leading cause of severe long-term disability, with stroke mobility reduced in more than half of stroke survivors age 65 and older. But stroke also occurs in young adults – in 2014, 38% of people hospitalized for stroke were under the age of 65.
Those in the study who scored highest for genetic risk of stroke and those poorest for cardiovascular health had the highest risk of having a stroke at 25%. Regardless of their level of genetic risk of stroke, those who practiced optimal heart health reduced that risk by 30% to 45%. This added about six more years of stroke-free life.
Overall, those with a low adherence to Life Simple 7 suffered the highest incidence of stroke (56.8%), while those with a high adherence had 71 strokes (6.2%).
A limitation of the paper is that the polygenic risk score has not been widely validated, so its clinical utility is not optimal, especially for people of diverse racial or ethnic backgrounds.
research was led by UHealth Houston And the findings were published in the journal American Heart Association,
The study included 11,568 adults aged 45 to 64 who were stroke-free at baseline and followed for an average of 28 years. The levels of heart health were based on the American Heart Association’s Life Simple 7 recommendations, which include stopping smoking, eating better, getting activity, losing weight, managing blood pressure, controlling cholesterol, and lowering blood sugar. The lifetime risk of stroke was calculated according to the stroke polygenic risk score, with those who had more genetic risk factors associated with a higher scoring risk of stroke.
“Our study confirms that modifying lifestyle risk factors, such as controlling blood pressure, can offset the genetic risk of stroke,” said Mary Fornage, PhD, senior author and professor of molecular medicine and human genetics at the Institute of Molecular Medicine at UTHealth Houston. “We can use genetic information to determine who is at higher risk and encourage them to adopt a healthier cardiovascular lifestyle, such as following the AHA’s Simple 7 of Life, to reduce that risk and encourage them to live longer.” To live a long, healthy life.” Fornage is Lawrence and Johanna Favorot Exclusive Professor in Cardiology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 795,000 people suffer a stroke each year in the US. This equates to someone having a stroke every 40 seconds, and someone dying of a stroke every 3.5 minutes. Stroke is a leading cause of severe long-term disability, with stroke mobility reduced in more than half of stroke survivors age 65 and older. But stroke also occurs in young adults – in 2014, 38% of people hospitalized for stroke were under the age of 65.
Those in the study who scored highest for genetic risk of stroke and those poorest for cardiovascular health had the highest risk of having a stroke at 25%. Regardless of their level of genetic risk of stroke, those who practiced optimal heart health reduced that risk by 30% to 45%. This added about six more years of stroke-free life.
Overall, those with a low adherence to Life Simple 7 suffered the highest incidence of stroke (56.8%), while those with a high adherence had 71 strokes (6.2%).
A limitation of the paper is that the polygenic risk score has not been widely validated, so its clinical utility is not optimal, especially for people of diverse racial or ethnic backgrounds.