Presenting his study Thursday at the International Stroke Conference in San Diego, Dr. Lewis B. Morgenstern, Professor of Neurology, University of Michigan, School of Public Health suggests, living in neighborhoods with more fast-food joints than restaurants, could increase risk of stroke by 13%.  Researchers found that a single fast food outlet could increase the stroke risk for an area by 1%.

Dr. Morgenstern, the study author does not know whether the link is causal, though his research team gathering data on stroke cases in Nueces County, Texas, found 1,247 cases of ischemic stroke cases between January 2000 and June 2003.  On determining the number of fast-food restaurants in the county, 262 were found, counting only restaurants with at least two of four characteristics i.e. rapid food service, take-out business, either no or a very limited wait staff and payment made before receiving food, ranking neighborhoods from most to least number of fast-food outlets.

Zeroing in on 64 U.S. Census Bureau tracts to determine the number of fast-food outlets in each area, they found each census tract included about 5,000 people, and the neighborhoods in the top 25% had 33-restaurants per tract, with 12 in the lowest.  On analysis, the study funded by U.S. National Institutes of Health found: ‘there was a 13% increased risk of stroke in the top 25% compared to the lowest 25%.’

Dr. Ralph Sacco, Chairman, Department of Neurology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, spokesperson for the American Stroke Association calls the findings ‘interesting, but we don’t know if it is causal’.

However, Dr. Dean Johnston, Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology, University of British Columbia says the findings are certainly plausible, saying: ‘This suggests that diet and lifestyle factors are important for stroke prevention.  Fast food has been linked with obesity, and obesity increases stroke risk.’

The findings released after another study showed an unhealthy lifestyle that included excessive drinking, eating unhealthily, smoking and shunning exercise, more than doubles the risk of stroke, emphasizes the importance of checking out the neighborhood when moving to a new locale, including determining the number of fresh produce stores, including the number of fast-food restaurants.

The study, carried out by researchers at the University of East Anglia, supports the theory that exercising, drinking less than 14-units of alcohol a week and eating at least five servings of fruit and vegetable a day, means even small changes in lifestyle can substantially reduce the risk of a stroke.

A stroke is an attack on the brain, occurring when blood supply to the brain is cut, causing brain cells to die and resulting in brain damage.  There are more than 700,000 cases of stroke, mostly ischemic strokes, due to clogged blood vessels, each year in the United States, while stroke the third biggest killer in Britain, after cancer and heart disease, afflicts more than 150,000 every year, with about 67,000 dying from it, and if it doesn’t kill you, it can leave you severely disabled.  Dr Matthew Giles, from the Stroke Prevention Research Unit at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, says: ‘Fortunately stroke is both predictable and preventable.’