Caregivers 'may have increased risk of stroke'

A new study published online this month has concluded that spouses who are under significant stress in their position as a caregiver for an ailing partner have an increased chance of having a stroke.

Released in the journal Stroke, researchers from the University of South Florida and University of Birmingham in Alabama studied a range of people from diverse backgrounds to assess care-giving strain, symptoms of depression, age, social network and education.

It was concluded that higher caregiving strains were associated with a 23 per cent heightened risk of stroke in African-American men, who had a 26.95 percent estimated ten-year stroke risk overall.

The team concluded that stress has been widely linked as a risk factor for stroke and coronary heart disease and that the strain of being a caregiver is following this pattern.

Every year, an estimated 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke.

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