RESEARCH ARTICLE


Experience of Stroke Warning Symptoms is Associated with an Adverse Cardiovascular Risk Profile



Amy Z. Fan1, *, Donald K. Hayes2, Henry S. Kahn3, Kurt J. Greenlund1, Janet B. Croft1
1 Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion,Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, the United States
2 Maternal and Child Health, Family Health Services Division, Hawaii Department of Health, Honolulu, HI, USA
3 Division of Diabetes Translation, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers forDisease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

Article Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2009
Volume: 2
First Page: 39
Last Page: 43
Publisher Id: TOEPIJ-2-39
DOI: 10.2174/1874297100902010039

Article History:

Received Date: 22/10/2008
Revision Received Date: 01/04/2009
Acceptance Date: 08/04/2009
Electronic publication date: 13/5/2009
Collection year: 2009

© 2009Fan et al..

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion,Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta,GA 30341, USA; Tel: (770) 488-5327; Fax: (770) 488-8150; E-mail: afan@cdc.gov


Abstract

Population-based studies may provide convincing evidence on whether persons experiencing stroke warning symptoms manifest an adverse cardiovascular risk profile regardless of a history of stroke. Data were analyzed for 9728 US adults aged 􀀁 40 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey1988-1994. Stroke warning symptoms were defined as experiencing one or more of the following for more than 5 minutes: sudden onset of weakness or paralysis of face, arm, or leg; numbness on one side of the face or body; loss of vision in one or both eyes; severe dizziness; or problem with ability to speak or understand. In an analysis excluding those with a history of diagnosed stroke, compared with those who had never experienced stroke symptoms, persons who had experienced symptoms manifested significantly (P<0.05) greater prevalence of diabetes, other cardiovascular diseases, and had significantly higher diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, serum triglycerides, ratio of total to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, C-reactive protein, and fibrinogen and significantly lower HDL cholesterol after adjustment for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Persons who experienced stroke warning symptoms during their lifetime manifested more adverse cardiovascular profiles even though they may not have had a diagnosed stroke. Further risk assessment is recommended for these persons and actions are needed to improve their cardiovascular health.