Hypertension at Top of Stroke Risk Factors

High blood pressure is the biggest stroke risk factor and can cause lethal damage to the brain.
These are the findings of a key Canadian led international study which shows that ten risk factors represent 90 per cent of the risk of stroke worldwide.
Five factors, blood pressure, smoking, diet, stomach obesity and lack of frequent exercise, were chosen for the magnitude of their risk.
The study was of 6,000 people across 22 countries.
It is the first vast international report of stroke risk factors.
The risk factors remain the same. The new factor is that the study tries to show exactly how much each factor contributes to the overall burden of stroke, in the rich countries and in the poor ones.
High blood pressure is the biggest predictor for strokes, almost tripling the risk.
The study leader stated that it would appear that the brain is more sensitive to blood pressure than the heart is.