Risk of stroke and lifestyle

doi:10.1136/bmj.b14

Published 19 February 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b14
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b14

Editorials

Risk of stroke and lifestyle

Smoking, exercise, alcohol, and diet are predictive factors

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The current mortality and morbidity attributable to cerebrovasculardisease is of concern nationally and globally. Moreover, theoverall burden of stroke is expected to increase over the nexttwo to four decades. More people will reach older age, whenthe risk of stroke rises sharply,¹ and this will offset thefall in the age specific incidence of stroke reported by recentepidemiological studies.² ³ In the linked study (doi:10.1136/bmj.b349),Myint and colleagues prospectively assess the relation betweenlifestyle behaviours and incident stroke in a cohort of 20 040men and women aged 40-79 years.⁴

How should individuals, policy makers, and society respond tothis challenge? Benjamin Franklin said that an ounce of preventionis worth a pound of cure, and fortunately stroke is both predictableand preventable. More than 15 years ago, the Framingham strokerisk score—based on age, blood pressure, use of antihypertensives,diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking, previous . . . [Full text of this article]

Matthew F Giles, senior research fellow and consultant physician

¹ Stroke Prevention Research Unit, Biomedical Research Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU

matthew.giles@clneuro.ox.ac.uk

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BMJ 2009 338: b349. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]