Stroke has always been a major health concern in the medical community. Medical procedures have drastically improved in the last decades, leading to fewer deaths provoked by transmitted diseases. The reduction of child mortality is another success of modern medicine. Now, the most common causes of death are cancers, along with heart related affections. But, according to a new study result, surprisingly, the stroke rate falls in the senior’s category.
Americans’ diet is a focus of numerous debates. The fast-food industry provides Americans with food for a long while. The quality of the fast-food meals has long been a subject of criticism produced by doctors. The high fat content presumably increases the risk of developing a heart related affection. A young body is usually equipped with the ability to better fight the substances which attack the heart’s health. By looking at the results of a 20 years long study in four American communities, the researchers question the old statement that as the heart grows older, it is irremediably weaker. While you finish reading the article, have a bite of dark chocolate, as it has been proved to fight artery disease.
Stroke Rate Falls, according to a study on four American communities
The internationally mixed research team looked at the health indicators of 14 357 persons for more than 20 years. The state of their health has been interrogated constantly though telephone or hospital consultations. Only seven percent of the impressive sample suffered a stroke during the research period, out of which 58 percent died until 2011.
The researcher team discovered that for people older than 65 years, the stroke incidence declined by 31 percent per decade. The scientists are worried, though, because in the cohorts younger than 65 years, the stroke incidence only decreased by three percent per decade. That is where the focus of health policy should be placed. Another good news is the fact that the stroke incidence for older people decreased in both Whites and Blacks. Due to overall lower socio-economic conditions, the Blacks have been at greater risk of suffering strokes.
A couple of reasons will explain why the stroke rate falls among seniors. First, the use of cholesterol-lowering medication increased from 4 percent to 13 percent during the last two decades. The ‘bad’ cholesterol levels decreased during that time. The use of medication for blood pressure increased too, from 29 to 43 percent. The third reason explaining why the stroke rate falls among the elderly is that many people from the sample stopped smoking during the time.