Risk factors

General
1

I've just been wading through a very interesting Finnish research piece. I had noticed that there seem to be a lot of women on this forum and sure enough, being female is a risk factor for aneurysm, increasingly after age 50. There is some thought that it has a hormonal component, declining estrogen. I guess we can't control that. Smoking is a risk factor for an aneurysm getting bigger. Bigger aneurysms, as you might suspect, are more prone to rupture. Smoking risk correlates with the number of cigarette smoked. The risks of a 2nd SAH for women under 60 who have been treated successfully are even lower than the risk for the general public. I think I got that right, but I'm over 60. I can't guarantee my summary is correct. The article is very dense for me. If any of you want to see what you get out of it, here is the link http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/32/2/485.full

2

Lleni,

The Finnish have done many excellent research projects related not only to aneurysms but also the metals used to repair ruptures. Yet the Food and Drug Administration requires no post surgical studies here in the United States. I've become so cynical about the resolve to understand the headaches and migraines so many suvivors encounter.

3

I've found a similar issue in the U.S. with follow up to joint replacements. In other countries they have a joint registry that follows every single one. Here it is a hit and miss situation. They talk about evidence based medicine, but the evidence seems to be a bit random and spotty.

4

Thank~you for sharing Lleni...very interesting...many of us on here were/are smokers...I quit 10 years ago...

My Surgeon told me after I was coiled, if I ever go back to smoking, please donot come back to him...how about that?

5

I think that is just a technique to make you pay attention. Still this is another danger of smoking and once you have had one annie, it must be a pretty good incentive. I think that Finnish research was saying that smoking was associated with the annies growing larger and that, as you might expect, larger ones are more apt to rupture.