Odds of another event and mortality are significantly increased, researchers say
MONDAY, Nov. 23, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Young women who survive a myocardial infarction (MI) or ischemic stroke continue to face an increased mortality risk — or another MI or stroke, according to a study published online Nov. 23 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers based these findings on 226 women with MI, 160 women with ischemic stroke, and 782 healthy women. The MI and stroke patients were about 40 years old on average at the time of their first event. They were followed for a median of almost 19 years.
The researchers found overall mortality rates to be 3.7 times higher in women who had an MI and 1.8 times higher in women who had a stroke, compared with healthy women. The increased risk persisted over time and was mainly due to deaths from acute vascular events. In MI survivors, the risks of cardiac and cerebral events were 10.1 and 1.9 per 1,000 person-years, respectively. In ischemic stroke survivors, the risks of cardiac and cerebral events were 2.7 and 11.1 per 1,000 person-years, respectively.
“Our results show that the increase in risk is persistent over a long time, making it even more clear that women should keep their regular check-ups and try to maintain a healthy lifestyle, even if their first event was years ago,” coauthor Bob Siegerink, Ph.D., group leader of epidemiology at the Charite Center for Stroke Research in Berlin, told HealthDay.
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