ASA: High Fat Intake Ups Stroke Risk in Older Women

Kudos, fatsettes.

Postmenopausal women who eat the most fat have an elevated risk of ischemic stroke, researchers found.
Those who ate the most total fat -- a median of 95 grams/day -- were 44% more likely to have an ischemic stroke than those who ate the least -- a median of 25 grams/day (HR 1.44, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.90, P=0.02 for trend), according to Sirin Yaemsiri, MSPH, a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Women who ate the most trans fat -- a median of 7.5 grams/day -- also had an elevated stroke risk (HR 1.30, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.70, P=0.03 for trend) compared with those who ate the least -- a median of 1.3 grams/day, Yaemsiri reported at the American Stroke Association meeting here.

Yaemsiri said the findings support the American Heart Association recommendations to limit trans fat intake to less than 1% of total energy consumption.

Commenting on the study, Emil Matarese, MD, director of the stroke center at the Saint Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pa., said, "I think women now need to recognize that they have risk of stroke just like a man, and it may be too late if a woman waits until they're menopausal to adjust their diet."

"We need to start early at recognizing what are our risks and eliminating the excess fat, especially trans fat," he added.

Younger women have a lower stroke risk than men of similar age, a relationship that reverses after menopause.

Eat hearty.