Women are at risk with raised cholesterol

According to researchers, American women who are health have increased risk of stroke due to elevated cholesterol. Much of the research on risk factors for heart disease and stroke has concentrated on men. Now doctors at Columbia University report on how cholesterol and other factors impacts women's risk of stroke. They looked at over 20,000 women with no history of heart attack, chest pain or stroke and aged from 30 to 95 years. The women were followed up for several years, during which time there were 500 stroke-related deaths.

Those with the highest cholesterol levels were more likely to have a blood-clot related stroke, esepcially if they were younger than 50 at the start of the study. The finding was especially marked for African-American women, who were at even higher risk than their white counterparts. As expected, the study also confirmed that diabetes and high blood pressure as well as smoking were significant stroke risk factors.