Smoking is known to be a major contributor to cerebrovascular accident (stroke). This study shows that the decline in the incidence of the deadliest type of stroke directly follows the decrease in smoking. With an immediate effect in addition. The conclusions presented in the journal Neurology thus indicate here for Finland that the number of cases of subarachnoid hemorrhages is falling, a trend particularly evident among the younger generations, and generally synchronous with the decrease in smoking in this population group.
The two main types of stroke are ischemic stroke (caused by blood clots), which is 85% of cases, and hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in the brain). Among hemorrhagic strokes, a particularly severe and fatal type, subarachnoid hemorrhage or subarachnoid hemorrhage, usually caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm, which leads to a sudden increase in intracranial pressure. Smoking is a key risk factor for this type of stroke. The identification of risk factors for stroke allows the development of targeted prevention strategies. A very large study, presented in The Lancet, recently estimated the incidence of stroke associated specifically with different risk factors and calculated the share of risk attributable to each risk factor. The PAR (or population attributable risk) is estimated at 12,4% for smokingwhich means that smoking is involved in 12% of strokes.
Researchers at the University of Helsinki suggest here that new anti-smoking policies (here in Finland) appear to drastically reduce the incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage, a type of stroke that usually results in death within a year. The team looked at changes in the incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhages over a 15-year period (1998-2012) and found that the trend more or less follows changes in smoking prevalence. Thus, over the follow-up period,
The prevalence of subarachnoid hemorrhage has decreased by 45% in women and 38% in men, aged less than 50 years,
The prevalence of subarachnoid hemorrhage has decreased by 16% in women and 26% in men, over the age of 50,
· Smoking among Finns aged 15-64 has decreased by 30% over the same period.
A result described as "extraordinary" : because it is unequivocal and the benefit of quitting smoking seems immediate: it is rare, write the researchers that the incidence of cardiovascular disease decreases so rapidly in the general population in such a short period of time . And although the study does not demonstrate a direct link between smoking cessation and falling strokes, it is highly likely that national tobacco control policies in Finland contributed to this drop in the incidence of severe brain hemorrhages.
Source : Santelog.com / Neurology August 12, 2016, doi: 10.1212 / WNL.0000000000003091 Incidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage is decreasing together with decreasing smoking rates
