Weather risk factors for stroke in the Central Region of Russia

The weather risk factors of stroke were studied in the Central Region of Russia. Case histories of patients admitted to Yaroslavl Clinical Hospital Eight with a diagnosis of stroke from October 2002 to December 2006 were analyzed. Among 3243 patients, there were 1607 men and 1636 women (mean age 62.45±12.19years. Ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes were identified in 61.1 and 19.0% of cases, respectively. The risk factors of stroke were found to be essential hypertension (70.4%), cerebral atherosclerosis (35.2%), and coronary heart disease (17.4%). A significant role is played in the occurrence of the disease by weather factors, such as wind speed (contribution factor, 32.1%), average daily air temperature (contribution factor, 17.9%), and atmospheric pressure (contribution factor, 17.1%)