Relative fat mass predicts stroke

Relative fat mass is strongly associated with incident stroke, especially ischaemic stroke, as shown in a study.

Researchers used data from the Prevention of Renal and Vascular End-stage Disease (PREVEND) community-based cohort and looked at 7,843 participants (mean age 47.7 years, 51.3 percent female) without a history of stroke and cardiovascular disease at baseline.

Over a median follow-up of 12.6 years, stroke occurred in 196 participants (2.5 percent), including ischaemic events in 138 (70.4 percent) and haemorrhagic events in 58 (29.6 percent).

In age- and sex-adjusted Cox regression models, each 1-standard deviation (SD) increase in relative fat mass was associated with a 26-percent increase in the risk of stroke (hazard ratio [HR], 1.26, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.05–1.50). The corresponding risk increase with BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio were 12 percent, 15 percent, and 17 percent, respectively.

Additional adjustments for height-indexed creatinine excretion rate (CER-index), a surrogate for muscle mass, strengthened the association of relative fat mass (HR, 1.41, 95 percent CI, 1.28–1.70), along with other anthropometric indices, with incident stroke.

For stroke subtypes, relative fat mass showed a significant association with ischaemic stroke (HR, 1.33, 95 percent CI, 1.08–1.65) but not with haemorrhagic stroke (HR, 1.10, 95 percent CI, 0.80–1.51).

The findings point to relative fat mass as a clinically meaningful proxy of pathogenic adiposity, highlighting the importance of incorporating body composition into cerebrovascular risk assessment.