Blood fat and stroke
February 8, 2012
HIGH levels of triglycerides (blood
fats) are the strongest risk factor
for the most common type of
stroke in older women, according
to new research from the Albert
Einstein College of Medicine at
Yeshiva University and NYU School
of Medicine.
The study, published in Stroke,
looked at data from 972
post menopausal women who
experienced an ischemic stroke
and 972 women who had not had
a stroke.
Looking at blood samples from
the women, researchers found that
that those in the highest quarter of
baseline triglyceride levels were
nearly twice as likely to have
suffered an ischemic stroke as
women in the lowest quarter of
triglyceride values.
“It’s important to note, many of
the traditional measures of
cholesterol that physicians use
including total cholesterol and LDL
cholesterol were not associated
with risk of ischemic stroke,” said
lead author of the study, Dr Jeffrey
Berger, Assistant Professor of
medicine at the NYU School of
Medicine.
“Currently, there is a lack of data
that lowering triglyceride levels can
help reduce the risk.
“We believe future studies of
people with elevated triglyceride
levels are warranted to show the
reduction of ischemic stroke,” he
added.
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