This Online Calculator Can Predict Your Stroke Risk
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This online calculator can predict your stroke risk:
The study found that stroke risk increased consistently with metabolic syndrome[*] severity even in patients without diabetes. Doctors can use this information -- and a scoring tool developed by a UVA Children's pediatrician and his collaborator at the University of Florida -- to identify patients at risk and help them reduce that risk.
"We had previously shown that the severity of metabolic syndrome was linked to future coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes," said UVA's Mark DeBoer, MD. "This study showed further links to future ischemic strokes."
DeBoer developed the scoring tool, an online calculator to assess the severity of metabolic syndrome, with Matthew J. Gurka, PhD, of the Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics at the University of Florida, Gainesville. The tool is available for free at https://metscalc.org/.
[...] The overall relationship between metabolic syndrome severity and stroke risk was clear, however. And this suggests people with metabolic syndrome can make lifestyle changes to reduce that risk. Losing weight, exercising more, choosing healthy foods -- all can help address metabolic syndrome and its harmful effects.
DeBoer hopes that the tool he and Gurka developed will help doctors guide patients as they seek to reduce their stroke risk and improve their health and well-being.
"In case there are still individuals out there debating whether to start exercising or eating a healthier diet," DeBoer said, "this study provides another wake-up call to motivate us all toward lifestyle changes."
[*] Metabolic syndrome on Wikipedia:
Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of at least three of the five following medical conditions: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high serum triglycerides, and low serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL).
[...] In the U.S., about 25% of the adult population has metabolic syndrome, a proportion increasing with age
Journal Reference:
Risk of Ischemic Stroke Increases Over the Spectrum of Metabolic Syndrome Severity, Stroke (DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.028944)
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