Exercise may increase the risk of stroke

Coffee is one of the most often rated triggers for aneurysms in the brain.Approximately 2% of the population is expected to have an aneurysmCoffee and a vigorous exercise were most commonly noted triggersAneurysms are the most frequent after 40 years

(Canstar) - having sex, the consumption of coffee, work off - these and other daily activities which cause blood pressure to spike briefly may increase the risk of a burst aneurysm in the brain of some vulnerable people, a new study suggests.

Approximately 2% of the population is expected to have an aneurysm, a balloon-like swelling in an artery of the brain resulting from a weak point in the arterial wall.

Aneurysms are generally too small to cause symptoms or problems, but if they grow they can burst and cause a stroke, leading to the death or permanent brain damage.

The overall risk of failure is low. However, activities same brief that raise blood pressure may temporarily strengthen the risk, according to the study, which appears in the journal of stroke.

For example, the risk seems almost double in the hour after drinking a cup of coffee, researchers have discovered.

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"We examined the factors that were known to cause a sudden increase of short duration in blood pressure," says the principal author of the study, Monique Vlak, M.D., neurologist at the University Medical Center in Utrecht, in the Netherlands. "Other researchers have already described that sexual activity or exercise are often reported by patients to precede the rupture, but these potential risk factors were quantified never."

To this end, Vlak and his colleagues asked 250 patients who had survived a break if they had been exposed to one 30 potential triggers in the past year, how often, and if all these exhibitions took place immediately prior to their failure.

Coffee and a vigorous exercise were the most often recorded triggers, followed by nose blow, sex, straining to defecate, drink cola, be surprised and angry.

Coffee was linked to about 1% of the break in participants in the study and the vigorous exercise about 8%. Risk factors for remaining each accounted for approximately 5% or less of the failure.

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This does not mean that people with aneurysms must stop drinking coffee, said Stanley Barnwell, M.D., neurosurgeon and stroke specialist at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.

"I am not worried about coffee or cola," said Barnwell, who was not involved in the research. "There is not enough evidence here to get people not like drinking coffee." There were a relatively small number of patients involved to make a solid conclusion. ?

Aneurysms are most often after age 40. High blood pressure, genes, smoking and drug abuse are among the many factors that are supposed to contribute to their development. They can also be caused by infections and injuries to the head.

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Most people who have small aneurysms do not know because they have no symptoms. These cases are generally discovered by accident - when a brain scan is performed when a head injury, for example - and regular monitoring to monitor the growth of the aneurysm are generally all that is needed.

People with the larger aneurysms tend to undergo surgery or other treatment in one to three weeks of their diagnosis, so there is no real need for them to give up coffee or make any other change in lifestylesays Neil Martin, M.D., Co-Director of the UCLA stroke center, not participated in the study.

But some people are not healthy enough for surgery and must live with the risk of rupture. These patients should stop smoking and reduce their blood pressure, Martin says, and it would be also desirable for them to stop drinking coffee and take a demulcent, if necessary, as the study suggest the authors.

"We don't tell patients to stop having sex stool or exercise", he said.Copyright Health Magazine 2010