Winters can bring on a stroke: Study

Bengaluru: The cold, it is often said, can affect your bones, but it apparently can affect your brain too. A study by the George Institute for Global Health has shown that cold weather leads to a heightened risk of the most lethal form of stroke – intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), or bleeding inside the brain. “Intracerebral haemorrhage or subarachnoid hemorrhage is caused by bleeding or rupture within the brain tissue itself and is  very life threatening. The incidence is very common during winter,” says Dr Arun L Naik, Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon, Apollo Hospitals, Bengaluru.

The brain haemorrhage is more likely to occur during the first two to three hours of prolonged exposure to cold weather, according to the study  conducted on over 1900 patients across the world between 2008 and 2012. It found that almost 80 per cent of the strokes occured when the temperature was below 20°C.

Explains Dr Arvind Bhateja, Medical Director, Consultant Neurosurgeon and Spine Surgeon of Sita Bhateja Speciality Hospital, in the city, “Some haemorrhages  follow an annual variation. Subarachnoid hemorrhages are common in winters. Usually a cerebral aneurysm, which is a weak area in a blood vessel,  enlarges and ruptures suddenly in colder weather.”

According to experts those who are over 50 are more prone to such strokes, but even those younger can get them because of lifestyle changes or if they are prone to the condition. “A sedentary lifestyle and smoking are risk factors. Some  are genetically at risk for it. High risk groups should stay safe by getting their cholesterol, lipid profile and blood pressure checked everysix months period,”  Dr Bhateja advises.