Is hyperthyroidism a risk for stroke in young adults

January 01, 0001

Is hyperthyroidism a risk for stroke in young adults

There are many known risk factors for stroke, but hyperthyroidism has not been considered a risk factor in young adults. These Taiwanese researchers followed a cohort of 3176 18-44 year old patients with hyperthyroidism and 25 408 patients without hyperthyroidism were included as comparison cohort. Each patient was tracked for 5 years from their index ambulatory visit. Cox proportional hazard regressions were used to determine the 5-year stroke-free survival rates.

The researchers found: "Of the total sample of 28,584 patients, 198 patients (0.7 percent) had ischemic strokes during the 5-year follow-up period (31 {1.0 percent of the hyperthyroidism patients} from the study cohort and 167 {0.6 percent of comparison patients} from the comparison cohort). After adjusting for the patient’s age, gender, income, level of urbanization, hypertension, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, and whether they were using antiarrhythmics, the hazard of having ischemic stroke during the 5-year follow-up period was 1.44-times greater for patients with hyperthyroidism than for patients in the comparison cohort."

The researchers concluded: "…that hyperthyroidism is associated with an increased risk for ischemic stroke among young adults."

This study identifies a link between hyperthyroidism and subsequent ischemic stroke in young adults.

For the full abstract, click here.

Stroke 41(5):961-966, May 2010
© 2010 American Heart Association, Inc.
Hyperthyroidism and Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Young Adults: A 5-Year Follow-Up Study. Jau-Jiuan Sheu, Jiunn-Horng Kang, Hsiu-Chen Lin, and Herng-Ching Lin. Correspondence to Herng-Ching Lin: [email protected]

Category: K Circulatory, T Endocrine/Metabolic/Nutritional, Keywords: ischemic stroke, stroke, hyperthyroidism, risk factor, young adults, cohort study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Paul Schaefer, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 25 June 2010

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.