ABSTRACT
Both the consensus statement ‘Guidelines for the Prevention of First Stroke’ supported by the National Stroke Association (NSA)1 and the American Heart Association (AHA) scientific statement ‘Primary Prevention of Ischemic Stroke’ provide evidence-based recommendations for decreasing stroke risk that act as a template for risk factor reduction (Table 1)2. Lifestyle modifications to reduce stroke risk may present a great challenge in that social, behavioral and cultural factors increase the
complexity of the risk reduction strategy. It must remain the priority of health professionals to define and promote a lifestyle conducive to reducing blood pressure, controlling blood glucose, elevating high-density lipoproteincholesterol, increasing physical activity, evaluating alcohol use and promoting the cessation of cigarette smoking.
