Physical and psychological characteristics in adolescence and risk of cerebrovascular disease

Cerebrovascular diseases, including stroke, are a leading cause of death and the most common cause of neurological disability among adults in developed countries. Patterns of exposure and characteristics across the life-course are likely to influence risk of cerebrovascular disease, but the origins of these patterns are incompletely understood. This project is investigating how individual characteristics in late adolescence relate to the risk and severity of subsequent cerebrovascular disease.

Data from several national Swedish registers are being used to provide comprehensive information on a representative general population-based cohort of approximately 250,000 men born between 1952 and 1956, and followed until 2010. Detailed information on health, fitness and function are available from late adolescence and there are details of diagnoses and treatments throughout the follow-up period. Details of educational attainment, occupation and living conditions are also available from registers and will be used to help characterise life-course patterns of risk exposure.

Significance:
This project will expand our understanding of how physical, psychological and social risks for cerebrovascular disease accumulate and interact across the life-course. In addition to providing possible aetiological clues, this research will facilitate identification of early intervention targets, and markers that are predictive of a worse prognosis following a first cerebrovascular event, making it possible to identify high-risk patients