According to a study in British Medical Journal (BMJ) , the risk of women suffering a stroke in comparison with men ismoderately higher. The study suggests that doctors should considera patient's gender when deciding on anti-clotting treatments. Even though various studies have indicated that women with atrial fibrillation (AF), i.e. a stoke that occurred due to an insufficient bloodsupply to the brain, have a higher risk of ischemic stroke than men, other studies in contrast failed to confirm thisfinding. Doctors need to be aware that gender issue is an importantfactor when making decisions about anti-clotting treatmentregardless of whether few or other risk factors of stroke exist. Researchers from the Swedish Karolinska Institute and England'sBirmingham University examined whether women with atrialfibrillation have a higher risk of stroke than men, assessing morethan 100,000 patients diagnosed with AF in all Swedish hospitals orhospital affiliated outpatient clinics. The team followed theparticipants for an average duration of 1.2 years, i.e. a total of139,504 years at risk. During the study period 7,221 patients suffered a thromboembolicstroke due to clots. Ischemic strokes proved to be more frequentwith 4,264 strokes during 69,005 years at risk in women, which isan annual stroke rate of 6.2% and 2,957 strokes during 70,594 yearsat risk in men, which translates to a yearly stroke risk of 4.2%. The team observed that the risk of women was still 18% higher thanthat of men after adjusting the results for 35 factors, which couldhave impacted the findings. However, the absolute annual rates ofstroke risk for both sexes proved to be relatively low, i.e. 1.9%for women between the ages of 65 to 74 years and for men even less. The team also noted that the risk for women below the age of 65with no other risk factors aside from AF was not higher than thatof men. They observed no statistically important difference in therisk of women suffering a stroke to men, with 31 strokes in women(4,626 at risk years) compared with 53 strokes in men (11,677 atrisk years). The researchers conclude that the risk of stroke in women with AFis moderately higher than that of men and doctors should considerthis factor with regard to making decisions about anti-clottingtreatment. They continue saying: "In borderline situations, inwhich a decision about whether to give anticoagulation treatmentweighs in the balance, we suggest that female sex should probablytip the scale towards initiating treatment," and add that noanticoagulation therapy is required for women under the age of 65years with a low risk of stroke and no other risk factors. Professor Eva Prescott from Denmark's University Hospital inBispebjerg comments in a linked editorial that the findings of thisand other studies are reassuring for doctors, regardless of someinherent limitations. Prescott writes: "The registry data confirm overall that women are at higher risk ofstroke than men, but when differences in age and risk factorprofile are taken into account the excess risk is low. Moreimportantly, the absolute risk in younger women with no other riskfactors is low and does not merit treatment with oralanticoagulants." Written By Petra Rattue Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Additional References Citations. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Modern Area Rugs Manufacturer , Colorful Area Rugs, and more. For more , please visit Machine Tufted Carpet today!
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