THE ESSENTIAL
- In France, more than 140,000 new cases of strokes are recorded each year, or one every four minutes.
- The symptoms are numerous because they depend on the area of the brain affected. The most common are: paralysis of one or more limbs or of the face, numbness of one or more parts of the body, difficulty speaking, vision problems, etc.
If you are in the middle of a divorce or are overwhelmed with files at work, be careful. Your risk of having a stroke is getting higher, according to a new study from the University of Galway and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open.
Stroke: domestic stress is a risk factor
The researchers analyzed the records of more than 26,000 people in Europe, Asia, North and South America, the Middle East and Africa. They come from an international study called INTERSTROKE, conducted in 27 countries since 2007. Scientists determined that high stress at home or at work as well as stressful life events (separation/divorce, major intra-family conflict) were associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke (stroke caused by a blood clot) and hemorrhagic stroke (due to bleeding into brain tissue).
Studies have shown that a distressing situation favors the occurrence of a stroke by 17%. Two events (or more) result in a 31% increase in risk.
“Among people who reported severe household stress, the increased risk of stroke was lower among those who felt that what happens in life is determined by factors they control”says Dr. Catriona Reddin of the University of Galway (Ireland).
Stress at work: beware of the risk of stroke
Daily home life isn’t the only thing that can be stressful. Participants who reported stressful problems at work were more than twice as likely to have an ischemic stroke and more than five times more likely to suffer a hemorrhagic stroke compared to those who reported having no work concerns.
“Among people who reported severe work stress, the increased risk of stroke was lower in people who felt they were in control of what happens in the office, in most situations, compared to those who felt they had little control over their professional lives”added Dr. Reddin.
