January 23, 2019
NZ high on stroke risk table
There's a call for New Zealand to focus on stroke prevention at a much earlier age than 40 years, because of the number of Māori and Pacific people getting strokes earlier.
A new study shows New Zealand has the second the highest stroke risk in developed countries, with 24.6 percent of people aged 25 being at risk of developing a stroke during their lifetime.
The highest is Finland at 29.3 percent, and Australia is just 21 percent.
Professor Valery Feigin, the director of the National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neurosciences at Auckland University of Technology, says this could be related to the significant proportion of Māori and Pacific peoples in New Zealand, who have more than double the risk of stroke compared to Europeans.
He says stroke is getting younger, and young adults need to think about what they can do to modify their risk of stroke, such as eating a healthier diet with more fruit, vegetables and wholegrains, avoiding tobacco and alcohol, increasing physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight.
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