Genetic risk, incident stroke, and the benefits of adhering to a healthy lifestyle: cohort study of 306 473 UK Biobank participants
Publication: BMJ
Loes CA Rutten-Jacobs, Susanna C Larsson,, Rainer Malik,, Kristiina Rannikmäe, MEGASTROKE consortium, International Stroke Genetics Consortium, Cathie L Sudlow, Martin Dichgans, Hugh S Markus, professor2, Matthew Traylor
24 October 2018
Summary:
Researchers investigated whether a genetic risk score for stroke is associated with actual (“incident”) stroke in a large population of British adults.
They developed a genetic risk score based on 90 gene variants known to be associated with stroke from 306,473 white men and women in the UK Biobank – a database of biological information from half a million British adults.
Participants were aged between 40 and 73 years and had no history of stroke or heart attack. Adherence to a healthy lifestyle was based on four factors: non-smoker, diet rich in fruit, vegetables and fish, not overweight or obese (body mass index less than 30), and regular physical exercise.
A high genetic risk combined with an unfavourable lifestyle profile was associated with a more than twofold increased risk of stroke compared with a low genetic risk and a favourable lifestyle. Full story here