Handle Stress Better to Cut Stroke Risk

If you can handle stress well, you can cut down your risk of stroke by nearly a fourth, a new study suggests. The study by researchers from the University of Cambridge has been published in the journal Stroke.

There are nearly 150,000 incidents of strokes in the UK each year. It is the third most common cause of death in the UK with more than 60,000 people succumbing to stroke every year. It also accounts for more patients left with severe disability than any other cause. There are more than 250,000 UK citizens are present who have been left disabled by a stroke.

To understand the cause and effect relationship between stress and stroke, researchers led by Dr. Paul Surtees from the University of Cambridge looked at more than 20,000 people for a period stretching nearly seven years. During this period, the researchers recorded 452 strokes and more than 100,000 stressful incidents in the lives of the participants.

The response of each participant to the stressful event was noted. The researchers observed that people who managed to maintain an optimistic outlook despite the stressful event and had a well-rounded approach were 24% less likely to suffer a stroke.

According to the researchers, people in this group had a good sense of coherence – a term that was first used in relation to survivors of concentration camps. Commenting on their findings, Dr. Surtees said, “Our findings suggest that people who are able to adapt more rapidly to stressful circumstances in their lives had a lower risk of stroke.”

“Whilst many questions remain to be answered by further research, this evidence raises the possibility that improving our ability to respond to stress may have benefits for vascular health,” he said. In Dr. Surtees’ opinion, the relationship between stress and stroke is most likely very complex.

At the same time, he pointed to the large volume of anecdotal evidence available connecting the two. He cited the example of the three months following the Kobe earthquake in Japan in 1995 when stroke rates among the local population rose by 90%. The researchers also found that people who handled stress better also had healthier lifestyles, took plenty of exercise and had low alcohol consumption and smoking rates.

Dr. Isabel Lee, from The Stroke Association, which funded the study said, “It is becoming clear that understanding the very complex nature of stress and its connection to stroke will allow us to design better stroke prevention interventions and help save lives.”

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