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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >> All participants were followed until 2005, by which point 244 strokes were recorded.
The researchers found that those men and women who reported better physical function had a considerably lower risk for stroke.
After adjusting for all other observed characteristics -- including gender and age -- Myint and his team found that patients in the top quarter of physical function capacity had half the risk of stroke when compared with patients in the lowest quarter of physical function.
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The authors concluded that poor physical function could indicate a high risk for stroke, thereby highlighting a specific segment of the general population that could derive particular benefit from some form of intervention.
Myint stressed, however, that to date his team has simply conducted a hands-off review of patient self-reports regarding their physical capacity and lined those reports up against stroke incidence records. At no time were patients assessed for their ability to follow a prescribed physical activity routine of varying intensities and durations.
He cautioned against leaping to the notion that greater physical function or activity directly causes a drop in the risk for stroke.
"We don't know whether physical function per se is causally related to stroke or simply a good marker for other factors that influence stroke risk," Myint noted. "These findings need confirmation from other studies. However, there is already a substantial body of evidence for public health recommendations to increase physical activity."
In the meantime, Alice H. Lichtenstein, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Lab at Tufts University in Boston, said that people should not sit idly by while investigators continue to unravel the complex web of factors related to stroke risk.
"This study does not show causation, but clearly, individuals who follow current guidelines for decreasing risk for stroke and general cardiovascular risk -- including keeping physically active -- have better outcomes," she said. "So, in terms of both physical function and activity, what people need to try to do is go from where they are to more."
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