News - Hypertension Week of May 25, 2003/ Vol. 2 No. 21

Study: Controlling Blood Pressure, Changing Lifestyle Can Help Prevent Bleeding Strokes

Bleeding strokes are deadly up to 50 percent of the time and most often strike younger people. A new study has found that controlling blood pressure and making certain lifestyle changes can help prevent them.

"Our results should give people -- especially those with a family history of bleeding stroke -- even more impetus to take better care of themselves," said Dr. Joseph Broderick, a University of Cincinnati neurology professor, reporting in the May 23 rapid access issue of Stroke.

Bleeding strokes account for about three percent of all strokes and occur when a blood vessel on the surface of the brain ruptures and bleeds into the space surrounding the brain.

Researchers identified 312 patients between the ages of 18 and 49 who suffered bleeding strokes between 1994-99 and looked at the factors that may have helped cause the strokes. The study participants were then compared to a control group of 618 people who had never suffered a stroke.

The study found that high blood pressure was a major risk factor for bleeding strokes as those in the stroke group were more than twice as likely to have high blood pressure as those in the control group. Broderick said this highlights the importance of monitoring blood pressure and controlling it if it is high.

The study also found that two-thirds of the people who had a bleeding stroke were current cigarette smokers. Another three percent of those who suffered such strokes also reported recent cocaine use.

People in the study who had bleeding strokes were also about 3.8 times more likely to have a family history of such strokes than those in the control group.

Researchers were also surprised to find that, compared with heavier people, those with lower body mass index were about 1.5 times more likely to suffer a bleeding stroke. "Quite frankly, we don't understand that association very well," Broderick said.

Other sources: American Heart Association