The recent U.S research has disclosed that maintaining a healthy lifestyle can cut one’s stroke risk by about 80 percent.

During the study, the investigators focused on the following five healthy lifestyle factors including regular exercise, healthy diet, limited intake of alcohol, no smoking and maintenance of weight.

The researchers analyzed the data collected from 43,685 men (average age 54) and 71,243 women (average age 50). All of the study participants, who were free of major chronic diseases at the outset, provided info on their medical condition and life-style factors every two years between 1986 and 2002 for health experts and 1984 and 2002 for nurses.

During the study, 1,559 women and 994 men had strokes.

This study showed that women with healthy lifestyle had an 81 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke and 79 percent lower risk of suffering any kind of stroke. In contrast, healthy lifestyle factors reduces the risk of any type of stroke in men by 69 percent and an 80-percent lower risk of ischemic stroke, compared to men with none of the lifestyle factors.

The study was led by Dr. Stephanie E. Chiuve of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

Dr. Stephanie E. Chiuve said, “More than half of ischemic strokes -- 52 percent in men and 54 percent in women -- may have been prevented through adherence to a healthy lifestyle. He added that the present study showed that following a healthy lifestyle, which has been associated with up to 80 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease and 90 percent lower risk of diabetes, may also prevent more than half of ischemic strokes.”