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U.S.-born Mexicans face higher stroke risks

Mexican Americans and women may have an increased risk of experiencing a stroke in which there is bleeding in the space around the brain, according to a study by the University of Michigan.

Researchers, reviewing the medical records of almost 30,000 people over age 44 in southeast Texas, found that Mexican Americans ran nearly twice the risk of a subarachnoid hemorrhage than Anglos. Women, they found, had a one-and-three-quarters-fold increased risk of having this type of stroke.

Only 107 of the 29,907 people in the study experienced a subarachnoid hemorrhage during the seven-year study period.

A subarachnoid hemorrhage often results from a cerebral aneurysm, a blistering of a blood vessel. Even if caught early, it could kill a person or lead to severe disability. The condition may cause a person to have a severe or “thunderclap” headache. Vomiting, seizures and neck stiffness may accompany the headache.

Tobacco use and hypertension treatment differences among ethnic groups may have played a role in the study’s outcome.