High cholesterol is a risk factor for stroke, even if a woman is otherwise healthy

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Healthy women who have raised cholesterol run an increased risk of stroke, according to a new study.
High cholesterol levels are known to increase the risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke. Now researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital reveal that the risk extends to women who are otherwise healthy. The report comes from the long-running Women's Health Study and covers over 27,000 women aged 45 or more, who were followed up for eleven years.

During this time, there were 282 strokes and the researchers found a strong link between total cholesterol levels and stroke. Otherwise healthy women with high cholesterol were twice as likely to have a stroke compared to healthy women with lower cholesterol levels. However, a limitation of the study is that cholesterol levels were only measured once. The findings show the importance of monitoring cholesterol and, if it is too high, doing something about it. A healthy diet, exercise, and drugs to lower cholesterol can all help reduce the risk of stroke.

Source
Neurology 20th February 2007

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