Study Examines Link Between Daylight Savings and Increased Stroke Risk
Does turning the clock back or forward an hour mess with people’s circadian rhythm and put them at an increased risk of ischemic stroke? A new study that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 68th Annual Meeting in Vancouver, in April, suggests it does, though only temporarily.
Ischemic stroke is caused by blockage of a blood vessel supplying the brain, and this type accounts for 87 percent of all cases.
A team led by Jori Ruuskanen, M.D., Ph.D.,of the University of Turku in Finland said in a prepared statement that the researchers wanted to see if daylight savings time put people at increased risk because previous studies have shown disruptions in a person’s internal body clock increase the risk of ischemic stroke.
Researchers analyzed ten years of data to determine the stroke rate in Finland, and then compared the rate of stroke in a group of 3,033 people who were hospitalized during the week after daylight savings time, to the rate of stroke in 11,801 people who were hospitalized 14 days before or after that week.
There were a number of interesting findings, including an 8 percent increase in the overall rate of ischemic stroke for the first two days after daylight saving time transition. There was no difference in increased risk after two days.
Certain people were at higher risk of having a stroke after a time change than during another period, including those with cancer and those over the age of 65. For those over 65, researchers found they were 20 percent more likely, while those with cancer were 25 percent more likely to suffer from a stroke following the transition than at another time.
There was no increase in deaths from stroke one week after daylight saving time went into effect.
“Further studies must now be done to better understand the relationship between these transitions and stroke risk and to find out if there are any ways to reduce that risk,” Ruuskanen said.
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