Insights – Ischaemic stroke risk ‘similar in men and women smokers’.

A new systematic review of data, published in the journal Stroke has put into question evidence which suggests that cigarette smoking confers a greater risk of stroke to women compared with men. The findings do suggest, however, that women smokers may be at greater risk for the less common haemorrhagic stroke, which is associated with higher mortality. The meta-analysis of data from more than 80 international studies, including nearly 4 million individuals and over 42,000 strokes, found that smoking is linked to more than a 50% greater risk of ischaemic stroke, similar in both men and women. However, for haemorrhagic