Healthy Lifestyles May Cut Stroke Risk in Half for Women

According to a new study published in the journal Neurology, women with a healthy diet and lifestyle may be less likely to have a stroke by more than half. The study looked at five factors that make up a healthy lifestyle: moderate alcohol consumption; never smoking; being physically active; and maintaining a healthy body mass index (BMI). Compared to women who had none of the five healthy factors, women with all five factors has a 54-percent lower risk of stroke. “Because the consequences of stroke are usually devastating and irreversible, prevention is of great importance,” said one of the study’s authors. “These results are exciting because they indicate that a healthy diet and lifestyle can substantially reduce the risk of stroke, and these are lifestyle choices that people can make or improve.” During the study, 31,696 women with an average age of about 60 completed a 350-item questionnaire about their diet and lifestyle. They were then followed for an average of 10 years. Most of the women had two or three of the healthy factors. Only 589 women had all five healthy factors. There were 1,554 strokes among study participants. The risk of stroke was found to steadily decrease with each additional healthy lifestyle factor. To read more about this study, click here.