Physical Activity Cuts Stroke Risk

(Enviado por: Marcelo Gustavo Colominas [mailto:mgcolominas@hotmail.com] )
domingo, 2 de abril de 2006 18:12
(Disponível por solicitação)
Dr. G. Hu, Pr. J. Tuomilehto*
Helsinki, Finland
* Past-Chairman of the Working Group on Epidemiology and Prevention


Stroke remains a leading cause of severe disability and premature death in the United States and other Western countries. Effective therapies for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke only are used in a small number of patients and many stroke survivors require lengthy rehabilitation and chronic care. Thus, the identification of modifiable lifestyle factors remains critical for stroke prevention.
There is good evidence that regular physical activity reduces the risk for cardiovascular disease (1). However, the protective effect of physical activity specifically on stroke risk is less clear, and the results are inconsistent.
Study Results
Some studies (2-7), but not all (8-11) have indicated a significant inverse association between leisure-time physical activity and stroke risk.
Moreover, studies on women are sparse (4-7, 11), and only three of them have found a significant inverse association between leisure-time physical activity and stroke risk (5-7). Small sample sizes and few stroke events, especially among women, may have contributed to the inconsistent observations./.../