lifestyle issues may play a role in stroke development.

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THE QUESTION Might unhealthy living make stroke more likely?

THIS STUDY involved 20,040 adults (average age, 58) who were rated on four

healthy lifestyle behaviors: not smoking, being physically active, drinking

alcohol in moderation and consuming five servings a day of fruit and

vegetables. None of the participants had had a stroke when the study began,

but in an 11 1/2 -year span, 599 were hospitalized with a stroke. People who

exhibited one or none of the healthy behaviors were more than twice as

likely to have had a stroke as were those credited with all four.

WHO MAY BE AFFECTED? People of middle age and older, when strokes are most

apt to occur. The risk more than doubles each decade after age 55, and about

75 percent of all strokes occur in people older than 65. In the United

States, blacks are more likely to have a stroke than members of any other

racial group.

CAVEATS Nearly all participants were white. The study did not differentiate

between types of stroke, nor did it include people who may have had a mild

stroke but were not admitted to a hospital.

FIND THIS STUDY Feb. 19 online issue of BMJ.

LEARN MORE ABOUT stroke at http://www.ninds.nih.gov and

http://www.stroke.org.