FRIDAY, Aug. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Abdominal fat and smoking are strongly associated with an increased risk of stroke, according to the results of two case-control studies published online Aug. 14 in the journal Stroke.
In the first study, Yaroslav Winter, M.D., of the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and colleagues analyzed data from 379 individuals with stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), matched for age and sex with 758 controls. Body mass index was found to have an association with risk, though this became non-significant after adjustment for smoking, diabetes and other risk factors, the researchers report. However, patients in the highest tertile of waist-to-hip ratio had a higher risk of cerebrovascular disease than those in the lowest tertile, even after adjustment (odds ratio 7.69). Waist circumference was also associated with stroke/TIA risk, the authors note.
In the other study, Viveca M. Bhat, M.D., of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues analyzed data from 466 women aged 15 to 49 years with stroke, along with 604 stroke-free controls. The odds ratio for current smokers compared with never smokers was 2.6, and former smokers and never smokers showed no difference in stroke risk. The adjusted odds ratio for those smoking 40 or more cigarettes daily was 9.1, the researchers report.
"Our study supports the need to target smoking as a preventable and modifiable risk factor for cerebrovascular disease in young women. The dose-response relationship between number of current cigarettes smoked and ischemic stroke risk in a young ethnically diverse population of women makes large-scale public health campaigns promoting smoking abstinence, cessation and reduction imperative," Bhat and colleagues conclude.
Abstract - Winter
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Abstract - Bhat
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