When blood flow to an area of the brain suddenly stops, a stroke occurs, posing a major risk to the patient’s life. A recent research published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association demonstrates the rapid onset of adverse consequences due to poor lifestyle choices and their association with an increased risk of stroke.
Stroke risk seems to rise in the first hour after ingesting any alcoholic beverage.
There seems to be a dose-response relationship between alcohol consumption and the risk of ischemic stroke. Researchers did not know whether or whether alcohol use had an immediate effect on ischemic stroke (produced by a blood clot in an artery in or leading to the brain) before to the SOS, but moderate alcohol usage may possibly lessen risk.
On three days after suffering an ischemic stroke, researchers spoke with 390 individuals (209 males, 181 women) about a wide range of topics.
Patients were not allowed to take part if they were too ill or unable to talk because of the stroke.
Fourteen people experienced a stroke and had taken alcohol within the hour before their symptoms began. The relative risk of stroke in the first hour following alcohol use was 2.3% greater compared to periods when alcohol was not being used.
Risk was shown to be 1.6% greater in the second hour, 30% lower than at study’s outset, and 1.6 times higher in the 24th hour.
No difference was seen in these trends amongst those who had drunk wine, beer, or spirits. Researchers found no change in the alcohol-stroke relationship after excluding individuals who had been exposed to other putative triggers (such severe exercise or consuming a caffeinated beverage) just before their strokes.
The trend held even after excluding the data from the one subject who had taken more than two beers in the hour before the stroke.
Blood pressure increases and platelets become more sticky immediately after drinking, both of which may raise the risk of a blood clot developing.
Regular light alcohol use, however, is linked to improved blood lipid profiles and more flexible blood arteries, both of which may lower risk.
