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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Obesity Linked to Large Stroke Increase Among
Middle-Aged Women
Still only about 2% have stroke buy increase
is almost four-fold
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Feb. 21, 2008 - Middle-aged women’s waists aren’t
the only thing that increased in the last decade. So did their chance of
stroke. In a new study reported at the American Stroke Association’s
International Stroke Conference 2008. Rising obesity rates have been
linked to a four-fold increase in strokes among women aged 35 to 54.
A previous analysis of stroke prevalence rates in
the United States from 1999 to 2004 revealed that women in their midlife
years were more than twice as likely as men of similar age to report
having had a stroke, said Amytis Towfighi, M.D., an assistant professor
in the Neurology Department at the University of Southern California in
Los Angeles, Ca.
To determine if this was a new phenomenon and to
explore the potential contributions of vascular risk factors to stroke
prevalence rates, researchers analyzed data from the National Health and
Nutrition Surveys 1988–1994 (NHANES III) and 1999–2004.
Researchers found that while 1.79 percent of women
ages 35 to 54 who participated in NHANES reported having stroke, only
0.63 percent of women the same ages who participated in the earlier
survey (NHANES III), reported stroke.
The analysis compared medical history variables
(including smoking, diabetes mellitus, heart attack, high blood
pressure), medication usage, and clinical markers among women in NHANES
III and 1999–2004. Clinical markers evaluated included waist
circumference, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, low density
lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol), and blood
pressure.
“We did not find significant differences in
presence of conventional cardiovascular risk factors, such as blood
pressure, total cholesterol, LDL, smoking, heart disease, high blood
pressure or diabetes, when we compared the two groups,” said Towfighi,
lead author of the study.
Instead, women in the more recent survey were more
likely to be using medications to control blood pressure and
cholesterol. In fact, 14.8 percent of women in NHANES 1999–2004 reported
using medications to lower blood pressure, compared to 8.9 percent in
the earlier survey.
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Watch Video |
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2008 International Stroke Conference - Video News Release
 Feb.
2, 2008 -
Middle-aged women’s waists aren’t the only thing that increased in the
last decade. So did their chance of stroke. In a study reported at the
American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2008,
rising obesity rates have been linked to more strokes among women aged
35 to 54
>>
Obesity Linked To Stroke
Increase Among Middle-Aged Women Microsoft Windows Media
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Nearly 4 percent of women in NHANES 1999–2004 used
medications to lower cholesterol, versus 1.4 percent in NHANES III.
“Women in NHANES 1999–2004 were significantly more
obese than women a decade prior, with an average BMI of 28.67 kg/m2
versus 27.11 kg/m2 the decade prior,” Towfighi said. BMI of 25.0 to 30.0
is considered overweight, while BMI of 30.1 or more is considered obese.
“In addition, women in NHANES 1999–2004 had an
average waist circumference of nearly 4 centimeters more than women in
the earlier study,” Towfighi said. Women in NHANES 1999–2004 also had
higher average glycated hemoglobin (an indicator of poor blood sugar
control).
The researchers concluded that although key
traditional risk factors, such as high blood pressure, may not be higher
today than in the ‘90s, obesity and blood sugar markers are on the
increase.
“Abdominal obesity is a known predictor of stroke
in women and may be a key factor in the midlife stroke surge in women,”
Towfighi said. “This study highlights the need to intensify efforts in
curbing the obesity epidemic in the United States.”
Editor’s Notes:
Co-authors are Rita Engelhardt, Dr.PH., and Bruce
Ovbiagele, M.D., from the University of California at Los Angeles.
>> For more information for women on lowering your risk of heart disease visit
www.goredforwomen.org.
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