Stroke
risk significant in month following heart attack
Newswise — “While our research reaffirmed the risk of stroke
among patients with heart disease, the surprise was that the
risk was so high in the month after a heart attack,” says
Veronique Roger, M.D., M.P.H., the Mayo Clinic cardiologist
who led the study.
“A lot of patients survive heart attacks today, which is why
this study is so relevant,” she says. “It emphasizes the
importance of worrying about other things that can happen
beyond heart attacks, stroke being one of them.”
Researchers reviewed the medical records of 2,160 patients
who received care for a heart attack at Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minn., between 1979 and 1998 to see whether the
patients had a stroke and/or died after the heart attack.
Patients were followed for about six years.
In addition to the high risk in the first 30 days, the
stroke risk remained two to three times higher than expected
during the first three years following the heart attack.
Older age, previous stroke and diabetes increased the risk
for stroke, Dr. Roger says. Strokes were associated with a
large increase in the risk for death after a heart attack,
she says.
Researchers also discovered that the risk of stroke did not
change over time. In the 20 years studied, the risk of
stroke did not decrease over that period, Dr. Roger says.
The results can serve as a wake-up call to health care
providers to know about this increased risk of stroke. Heart
attack patients take certain medications, such as beta
blockers, aspirin and those aimed at reducing cholesterol
levels, which help with improving their long-term health,
she says.
Smoking cessation, exercising regularly and eating healthy
foods also are effective at preventing cardiovascular
disease, she says.
Further studies will help define what can more specifically
be done to prevent strokes after heart attacks, she says.
Co-authors of the paper are Brandi Witt, M.D.; Robert Brown,
M.D., M.P.H.; Steven Jacobsen, M.D., Ph.D.; Susan Weston,
M.S.; and Barbara Yawn, M.D.
