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THURSDAY, Oct. 25, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Genetic and lifestyle factors are independently associated with incident stroke among men and women aged 40 to 73 years, according to a study published online Oct. 24 in the BMJ<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Loes C.A. Rutten-Jacobs, Ph.D., from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, and colleagues recruited 306,473 men and women aged 40 to 73 years between 2006 and 2010 to examine the correlation of a polygenic risk score and healthy lifestyle with incident stroke. A polygenic risk score of 90 single-nucleotide polymorphisms previously associated with stroke was constructed. In addition, adherence to a healthy lifestyle was determined based on not smoking, a healthy diet, body mass index <30 kg\/m\u00b2, and regular physical exercise.<\/p>\n
The researchers identified 2,077 incident strokes during a median follow-up of 7.1 years. Individuals with high genetic risk (top third of the polygenic score) versus those at low genetic risk (bottom third) had a significantly higher risk for incident stroke (hazard ratio, 1.35). Compared with a favorable lifestyle (three or four healthy lifestyle factors), unfavorable lifestyle (zero or one healthy lifestyle factors) was correlated with a significantly increased risk for stroke (hazard ratio, 1.66). The correlation with lifestyle was independent of genetic risk.<\/p>\n
“These findings highlight the potential of lifestyle interventions to reduce risk of stroke across entire populations, even in those at high genetic risk of stroke,” the authors write.<\/p>\n
One author disclosed ties to AstraZeneca.<\/p>\n