Women more prone than men to have mid-life strokes

After analysing data from 17,000 people over the age of 18, taking part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers in the United States have found that women were more likely than men to have a stroke in mid-life.

Of the survey participants 606 had suffered a stroke, and the researchers found that women in the 45 to 54 age range were more than twice as likely as men of the same age to have had a stroke.

However there appeared to be no differences between the sexes and stroke rates in the 35 to 44 and 55 to 64-year-olds.

Dr. Amytis Towfighi, the lead author of the study, says why this is so is unclear, even though their analysis indicated that increased waist size and coronary artery disease are predictors of stroke among women aged 45 to 54.

Dr. Towfighi from the University of California at Los Angeles, says while more research is needed, the apparent mid-life stroke surge among women suggests prompt scrutiny needs to be applied to the cardiovascular health of women in their mid-30s to mid-50s.

Several other heart disease risk factors, including "pumping" systolic blood pressure and total cholesterol levels, were revealed to be increasing at a higher rate among older women.

Dr. Towfighi says they found that with each decade, men's blood pressure increased by an average of 4 to 5 points, whereas women's blood pressure increased by 8 to 10 points.

Also while men had significantly higher total cholesterol levels than women at age 35 to 44, men's total cholesterol remained stable while women's total cholesterol increased by 10 to 12 points with each decade, so that by age 55 to 64, women had significantly higher total cholesterol than men.

The researchers also found a greater than expected stroke surge in men who were nearing the end of middle age, and men aged 55 to 64 were three times more likely than men aged 45 to 54 to have had a stroke.

The findings were reported in an online edition of the journal Neurology.