TORONTO — Even after having a stroke, people who maintain a healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of death, and the more healthy lifestyle practices they follow, the greater the benefit, according to data from 388 stoke survivors.
Those who did not smoke and exercised regularly were less likely to die, and those who ate fruits and vegetables routinely were less likely to die from cardiovascular causes, Dr. Amytis Towfighi said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.
“The benefits of five simple healthy lifestyle factors had been shown in the general population, but had not been shown before for the stroke survivor population,” said Dr. Towfighi, assistant professor of neurology at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Towfighi analyzed cross-sectional and prospective data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). From an initial sample of more than 33,000 people, 649 subjects were identified who had a prevalent stroke in the years 1988-1994 and were followed through 2000.I
In the final analysis, 388 stroke survivors met all criteria, including information on such covariates as age, sex, race, and prior myocardial infarction. The sample was 80% white and 53% female, with a mean age of 67 years. Of the 388 stroke patients, 206 died by 2000, with 126 deaths attributed to cardiovascular causes.
Of the stroke survivors, 75% self-reported that they did not smoke, 23% used alcohol moderately (although most did not drink), and 40% ate five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily when surveyed at baseline. About one-third said that they exercised more than 12 times per month and 70% had a body-mass index in the 18.5 to 29.9-kg/m
Of the five healthy lifestyle factors, abstaining from smoking (hazard ratio, 0.57; confidence interval, 0.34-0.98) and regular exercise (HR, 0.66; CI, 0.44-0.99) were associated with a lower all-cause mortality rate.
Eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables was associated with lower risk of cardiovascular death (HR, 0.30).
There appeared to be a dose/response relationship. Compared with those who did not report any of the healthy practices, the HR for all cause-mortality was 0.07 for five practices, 0.04 for four practices, and 0.13 for three practices.
Dr. Towfighi said that she had no relevant conflicts.