Does chocolate lower risk of carotid atheroslerosis in women?

Another study shows some possible benefits of cchocolate: the study suggests that chocolate lowers risk of carotid atherosclerosis (the thing that causes strokes and transient ischemic attacks, or TIAs) in women.

This study has a weak study design (prospective cohort study), and there was no difference in outcomes between those consuming weekly and daily chocolate. This makes it more likely that the findings may be misleading, since there is no dose-response relationship demonstrated.

The authors (like others before, if you're a regular reader of my blog!) properly call for a randomized controlled trial of chocolate in preventing atherosclerotic vascular disease such as transient ischemic attack (TIA) and stroke.

Can't wait!

Modifiable factors in stroke risk

The INTERSTROKE study, an international study of stroke risk factors was recently published in the Lancet, and shows as you might have expected the modifiable risk factors which play the greatest role in stroke risk. The number one factor is high blood pressure, which can be reduced by reducing salt intake and exercising more, and if that doesn't work, taking medications to reduce blood pressure. Smoking, abdominal obesity (fat around the middle!), diet, and reduced physical activity were other factors which together with high blood pressure accounted for 80% of ischemic stroke risk (ischemic stroke means a stroke that happens because of a reduction of oxygen flow to the brain, usually due to a clot in a blood vessel), and 90% of the risk of having a hemorrhagic stroke (due to bleeding into the brain) in the study.
Additional risk factors for a clot-type stroke included diabetes, alcohol intake, psychosocial factors, the ratio of apolipoproteins B to A1, and other heart diseases (arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, previous heart attack, and valve disease). Hypertension, smoking, abdominal obesity, diet, and alcohol intake were the most important risk factors for a stroke due to bleeding into the brain. '

Anything new here? No! But it's interesting to note that these results were the same all around the world.