Nutrition and stroke.

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and certainly the major cause of disability in the world. WHO has estimated that between 1990 to 2020 the world will witness an increase in stroke mortality of 78% in woman and 106% in man. Much of this increase will be in developing countries which are witnessing rapid change in lifestyle and nutrition, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, atrial fibrillation, hyperlipidemia, Homocysteinemia, and alcohol are the most significant modifiable risk factors of stroke.

The lowest effective intensity of prophylactic anticoagulation for patients with atrial fibrillation.

Background: Stroke prevention trials in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) mainly studied the use of warfarin in Caucasians, and the international normalized ratio (INR) was targeted in the range of 2-4. The result may not necessarily be applicable to other ethnic groups. This study aimed to determine the optimal intensity of anticoagulation for stroke prevention in Chinese patients.