Coping Ability Can Reduce Risk Of Stroke

Main Category: Stroke
Also Included In: Anxiety / Stress;  Preventive Medicine
Article Date: 12 Aug 2007 - 1:00 PDT

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A recent study has shown how a person's ability to cope with stress can reduce their risk of having a stroke by around a quarter.

The study, funded by The Stroke Association in collaboration with the Medical Research Council, provided a unique opportunity to explore the association between stress and stroke. It was undertaken by Dr Paul Surtees and colleagues at the University of Cambridge, and is published in Stroke.

Dr Isabel Lee, from The Stroke Association, said: "Stress is inevitably difficult to define and measure. This study examined the relationship between sense of coherence, an indicator of a person's ability to adapt to social stress, and subsequent stroke risk in 20,629 middle-aged and older men and women. The study also recorded details of over 100,000 stressful life events, such as bereavements, divorce and separation."

Sense of coherence is a measure of how strongly a person believes that what happens in their life is comprehensible, manageable and meaningful. The study revealed that those participants with a strong sense of coherence reported that they took less time to adapt to life events, and had a 24 per cent lower risk of stroke over a 7 year follow-up independent of other factors.

Dr Paul Surtees, who led the research, 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."

Dr Isabel Lee continued: "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."

1. The study was published in Stroke, Volume 38, Issue 5; May, 2007; pages 1447-1453. A copy of the full article can be downloaded from http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/vol38/issue5/

2. Paul G. Surtees, Nicholas W.J. Wainwright, Robert L. Luben, Nicholas J. Wareham, Sheila A. Bingham, and Kay-Tee Khaw Adaptation to social adversity is associated with stroke incidence: evidence from the EPIC-Norfolk prospective cohort study Stroke 2007: 38: 1447 - 1453

3. The Stroke Association is the only national charity solely concerned with combating stroke in people of all ages. The charity funds research into prevention, treatment, better methods of rehabilitation and helps stroke patients and their families directly through its community services which include a communication support service, family and carer support service, information services, welfare grants, publications and leaflets. The Stroke Association also campaigns, educates and informs to increase knowledge of stroke at all levels of society acting as a voice for everyone affected by stroke.

4. A stroke is a brain equivalent of a heart attack. A stroke can be diagnosed by using FAST - Facial weakness, Arm weakness, Speech Problems, Test all three. If these symptoms are present call an ambulance straight away.

The Stroke Association