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Treating High Blood Pressure Could Cut Many Strokes

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One quarter of bleeding strokes could be prevented if all patients with high blood pressure were to receive treatment, according to a report in the medical journal Stroke.

One quarter of bleeding strokes could be prevented if all patients with high blood pressure were to receive treatment, according to a report in the medical journal Stroke. A stroke occurs when blood flow to a brain region is decreased, either because of a blood clot that blocks blood flow or because a blood vessel ruptures. This latter type is known as a bleeding, or hemorrhagic stroke, and it has been strongly linked to high blood pressure. “In the past, people have done…trials to see if treatment of (high blood pressure) could prevent stroke, but no one has looked to see if such treatment is actually protective against stroke on a population-based scale,” lead author Dr. Daniel Woo, from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, told Reuters Health. “In others words, how much of stroke is being prevented by treating (high blood pressure)?” The new findings are based on analysis of hemorrhagic strokes that took place in the greater Cincinnati region between May 1997 and December 2002. Sixteen hospitals within a 50-mile radius of the city were screened for cases. A total of 549 hemorrhagic strokes occurred during the study period. Compared with normal blood pressure, untreated high blood pressure raised the risk of stroke by 3.5-fold. Although treated high blood pressure was still linked to stroke, the increased risk was greatly reduced to1.4-fold. On initial analysis, blacks were at increased risk for untreated high blood pressure, but after adjusting for access to care factors, such as insurance status, their risk was comparable to that seen in whites, Woo said. The authors estimate that up to 28 percent of hemorrhagic strokes among patients with high blood pressure would have been prevented if they had been receiving appropriate blood pressure drugs. The reduction in strokes identified in the current study could have major economic ramifications, Woo said. “The lifetime cost for 1 year of hemorrhagic stroke in the US has been estimated at over $11 billion. Therefore, being able to prevent one fourth of cases could result in savings of about $2.5 billion,” he added. (SOURCE: Stroke: Reuters Health News: Anthony J. Brown, MD: May 2004.)


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Posted On: 23 May, 2004
Modified On: 3 December, 2013

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