Stroke Risk High in African Americans, Study

A latest study claims that infections put African Americans at a greater risk of death from stroke when compared to whites.

Researchers at the University of Michigan state that African-Americans were 39 times more likely to die from stroke after a month from suffering urinary, skin and respiratory tract infections. Whites were four times likely and Hispanics were five times likely to die of stroke after an infection.

"Infection before stroke appears to be most lethal for black Americans," says lead author Deborah A. Levine, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of medicine in the division of general medicine in the U-M Medical School. "We know that African- Americans have a much greater risk of dying from a stroke than white Americans, and we wanted to know if infection - which research suggests is a stroke trigger - might contribute to this disparity."

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stroke is the fourth leading cause of death among Americans and is also a major cause of disability among adults. Every year over 800,000 Americans suffer from stroke and every four minutes one American dies due to the serious medical condition. It causes headaches, confusion, dizziness, loss of balance and vision problems as well.

The scientists say infections cause coagulation of blood and promote fat formation in the arteries. This in turn leads to blockage and arrests the blood flow to the brain triggering a stroke.

"Because of the higher stroke mortality rate among black Americans, there has been much attention on racial differences in vascular risk factors, like hypertension, and health behaviors but less attention on acute exposures that might contribute to racial differences in stroke deaths," Levine says.

In the U.S, the racial difference in stroke continues to increase. Blacks have a twofold higher risk of dying from stroke than the whites. This study shows that all the ethnic and racial groups suffered a higher risk of stroke after an infection but there was a significant difference in death by stroke.

To investigate further, the researchers worked on the data retrieved from the Health and Retirement Study conducted by the U-M Institute for Social Research on behalf of the National Institute of Aging.

They discovered that in African Americans the frequency of infection was more with about 70 percent of them experiencing an infection, 30 days before stroke death.

In white Americans the infections occurred less often before stroke death with just 45 percent experiencing one the month before stroke death.

The researchers also found that urinary tract infections and skin infections were as strong as respiratory infections when it came to triggering strokes.

"It is unclear why acute infection is more common, more lethal, or a more powerful trigger for stroke death in black Americans. Genetic risks, clinical, economic or environmental factors, and differences in access to health care are potential reasons. We need further studies to better understand this disparity so we can prevent more black Americans from dying of stroke, particularly after infection," Levine concluded.

The study was documented in the journal Neurology.