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People
who have high blood pressure, smoke cigarettes or consume
large amounts of coffee have a greater likelihood of suffering
a type of stroke known as an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage
(SAH).
Using
a population-based survey of risk factors for cardiovascular
disease in 27,161 subjects, researchers at Tromsø University
Hospital in Norway identified 26 cases of aneurysmal SAH in
which risk factors were registered before the bleeding. Systolic
and diastolic blood pressure, cigarette smoking habits, serum
concentrations of lipoproteins, body mass index, and coffee
consumption were analyzed.
The researchers
found that the proportion of study participants who were smokers
was significantly higher in patients with SAH (73.1 percent)
than in the control group (41.3 percent). Drinking more than
five cups of coffee per day was more common among patients
(85 percent) than in the control group (59 percent). Mean
(SD) systolic blood pressure was higher (154) than in the
control group (136).
Current
smokers were 4.5 times more likely to suffer a subarachnoid
hemorrhage than those who never smoked, while drinkers of
more than five cups of coffee a day were 3.86 times more likely
to have such a stroke than those who drank less. Each increase
of systolic blood pressure of 20 points brought forth a 2.46
times greater risk of a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
"Cigarette
smoking, high coffee consumption and hypertension are significant
independent risk factors for aneurysmal SAH," the researchers
concluded. "A high coffee consumption may also predispose
patients to aneurysmal SAH."
Source:
Hypertension
Week of August 18, 2002
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