title: [Non-pharmacological methods of stroke prevention].
abstract: Stroke is a major health problem and the leading cause of functional disability, so that effective primary prevention remains the best, easiest and most cost-effective approach to reduce serious consequences of stroke. It is well known that prevention includes pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods. However, it seems that non-pharmacological methods of stroke prevention are generally neglected and placed in an inferior position in relation to pharmacological prevention. Therefore, the objective of this review is to present the most relevant literature data on non-pharmacological methods of stroke prevention and highlight their effectiveness with the use of quantitative parameters of evidence-based medicine. The main sources of data were the American, European and Croatian guidelines for stroke prevention, along with recent research results. Literature data have shown the relative risk of stroke to be greater than 2.0 in the group with unhealthy lifestyle; in fact, healthy lifestyle predicts more than twofold difference in the incidence of stroke. It is important to emphasize the public health value of non-pharmacological stroke prevention and to underline that it should be constant, irrespective of taking pharmacotherapy for stroke prevention or not. Healthy lifestyle is fundamental for non-pharmacological stroke prevention and includes healthy diet, regular physical activity, low-normal body mass index, smoking abstinence, and moderate drinking of alcohol. It is essential to inform patients on the importance, value and benefits of non-pharmacological stroke prevention, in particular when it remains the only therapeutic option in case of adverse side effects of pharmacotherapy prevention. Numerous studies demonstrated that even small lifestyle modifications could significantly reduce the risk of stroke. Therefore, it is necessary that physicians promote moderate and healthy lifestyle and habits in primary and secondary stroke prevention because there is clear evidence that it can significantly reduce the risk of stroke.
authors.affiliation: University Department of Neurology, Sveti Duh General Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia. miljenka.planjar@gmail.com
authors.forename: Miljenka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Planjar-Prvan
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*