FRIDAY, May 21, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- The number of bleeding strokes suffered each year in the United States could be cut by about a fourth if more people were treated for high blood pressure, says a study in the current online issue of Stroke.
"We estimate that 17 percent to 28 percent of hemorrhagic strokes among hypertensive patients would have been prevented if they had been on hypertension treatment," study author Dr. Daniel Woo, an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Cincinnati, said in a prepared statement.
He and his colleagues studied 549 people treated for stroke and found the risk for hemorrhagic stroke among people with untreated hypertension was 3.7 times greater than for the general population. That risk was 1.4 times greater for people being treated for their high blood pressure.
Hemorrhagic strokes, which account for about 20 percent of all strokes, are fatal about 50 percent of the time. Many people who survive a hemorrhagic stroke suffer paralysis or other debilitating effects.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about hemorrhagic stroke.
