Trans fats can increase stroke risk in older women

Postmenopausal women who consume high amounts of trans fats are more likely to experience an ischemic stroke, say researchers at the University of North Carolina. Studying more than 87.000 women including over 1,000 stroke cases demonstrated that women who ate the most trans fats (6.1 grams per day) were 39 percent more likely to have a blood clot related stroke. Previous studies had stressed the importance of lowering tans fatty acids intake because of their association with higher bad cholesterol levels and the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The new observational study published in the Annals of Neurology also suggests that taking daily doses of aspirin may lower the risk of ischemic stroke tied with trans fat. Non-aspirin users with the highest trans fat consumption had a 66 percent higher ischemic stroke risk compared to those who took daily aspirin, researchers said. The findings doesn’t mean that aspirin user women can maintain on high trans fat diet, experts warned adding that taking the blood thinning drug cannot replace a healthy diet low in trans fats. “Our results highlight the importance of limiting the amount of dietary trans fat intake and using aspirin for primary ischemic stroke prevention among women, specifically postmenopausal women who have elevated risk of ischemic stroke,” wrote Dr. Ka He and colleagues. Trans fats are a form of unsaturated fats that are naturally at low levels in some animal based foods such as meat and dairy products. Artificial trans fats can be formed in high levels in hydrogenated vegetable oils and processed food. High consumption of trans fats increase the formation of clogged arteries by raising LDL or bad cholesterol levels and lowering good HDL cholesterol.