Smokers - Worried about stroke? You should be.

'Worried about stroke? - Then do something' is the message to smokers from The Stroke Association for No Smoking Day on 12th March 2003.

As part of the annual day, the charity is urging smokers to reduce their risk of suffering a stroke by giving up smoking. A quarter of all strokes in England and Wales are directly caused by smoking, contrary to the belief that cancer and heart disease are the only health risks.

Those who smoke are three times more likely to suffer a stroke - and a smoker with high blood pressure is twenty times more likely to suffer a stroke than a non-smoker with normal blood pressure. And so the Association is encouraging smokers who are worried about the risk of stroke to consider giving up.

Smoking causes narrowing and furring of the arteries and makes the blood more likely to clot - both risk factors for stroke. It also increases blood pressure - another major risk factor for stroke.

Stroke is the largest single cause of disability in the UK, with over 300,000 people affected at any one time. It is estimated that smoking related strokes cause disability in around 8,000 people each year.

The Stroke Association has produced a free patient information factsheet on Smoking and Stroke that offers smokers advice on how to quit. To order a copy of the factsheet contact; The Stroke Association, Northampton Resource Centre, 61-69 Derngate, Northampton NN1 1HD or call 01604 623 933/4.

ENDS

Notes to editor

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