People who live in areas with many fast food restaurants are more likely to have a stroke than those living on healthier streets.rnSo say Lewis Morgenstern of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and colleagues. They divided Nueces county, Texas, into 64 areas of roughly equal population and found that between 2000 and mid-2003, there were 13 per cent more strokes in areas with an average of 33 fast food restaurants than in those with just 12 fast food joints. Accounting for factors such as socio-economic status, they calculate that each additional restaurant ups the risk of stroke by 1 per cent.rnFast food restaurants may not be behind the high rates of stroke, says Morgenstern, who presented the study at the American Heart Association's International Stroke Conference. They may just indicate other risk factors.
展开▼
