Article Abstract:
Diabetes has long been known to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but the magnitude of that risk is unknown. Over 100,000 women enrolled in a long-term study known as the Nurses' Health Study were followed-up to determine the prevalence of diabetes and the rate of cardiovascular disease, specifically fatal and nonfatal heart attack and stroke. Women with maturity-onset diabetes were found to have six times the risk for heart attack of nondiabetic women. Their risk of stroke was four times greater than that of nondiabetics. Women whose diabetes was diagnosed before the age of 30 had a 12-fold greater than normal chance of developing heart disease, and a 10-fold greater than normal chance of having a stroke. Heart disease among diabetics was found to be even more prevalent in the presence of other known cardiac risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and obesity. Of the 100,000 women studied, diabetics accounted for 2 percent, yet they accounted for 14 percent of the cases of heart disease and 12 percent of strokes. Diabetes causes this increased risk of heart disease and stroke through a variety of mechanisms, such as causing platelets, blood-clotting cells, to become more "sticky," increasing the likelihood of blood clots, or causing damage to the small blood vessels of the heart and brain. Since some cases of adult-onset diabetes can be prevented merely by preventing obesity, these data underscore the need to do so. Further, once diabetes has developed, modifying the other risk factors, such as smoking and high blood pressure, becomes even more important. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
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Article Abstract:
Women who stop smoking may reduce their risk of stroke to that of a non-smoker within two to four years after they stop. Smoking is a known risk factor for stroke. Data on 117,006 women in the Nurses' Health Study show that 33% were smokers in 1976, compared to only 22% in 1988. During the 12-year follow-up, there were 448 strokes in the group. Smokers had almost three times the risk of stroke as those who never smoked, and their risk increased with the number of cigarettes they smoked daily. Among former smokers, the risk of a stroke dropped significantly so that by two to four years, their risk was only slightly higher than those who never smoked. This was especially true for ischemic strokes, which result when a blood clot lodges in an artery, cutting off the blood supply to the brain. Smoking is known to constrict arteries, which reduces blood flow, and increase platelet aggregation. This could lead to a higher risk of stroke in smokers.
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Article Abstract:
Women may have a higher risk of developing breast cancer if their mother or sister have had the disease. The increase in risk associated with a family history of breast cancer may be smaller than previously thought. Among 117,988 women between 30 and 55 years old in 1976 who were followed until 1988, 2,389 developed invasive breast cancer. The highest risk of breast cancer occurred among women whose mother was diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 40. These women had twice the risk of developing breast cancer as women with no maternal history of breast cancer. The risk of breast cancer was also higher among women whose mother was diagnosed with breast cancer after the age of 70 or whose sister had breast cancer. However, only 2.5% of the women diagnosed with breast cancer had a family history of the disease.
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