Association between Ramadan Fasting and cerebrovascular diseases

Ihsan K. AlShimmery; Abdullah Faky Yazdeen; Mutaz Fadhil Hummadi; Srood N Jarjees; Namir G. Al-Tawil

doi:10.15218/zjms.2017.043

Authors

Ihsan K. AlShimmery Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq.
Abdullah Faky Yazdeen Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq.
Mutaz Fadhil Hummadi Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq.
Srood N Jarjees Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq.
Namir G. Al-Tawil Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15218/zjms.2017.043

Keywords:

Ramadan, Fasting, Stroke, Summer season

Abstract

Background and objective: Cerebrovascular diseases are attacks of sudden neurological deficits (motor, sensory or cerebellar). There are a lot of risk factors for stroke like age, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, cardiac diseases and others. This study aimed to show if there is increasing rate of cerebrovascular events during Ramadan in relation to fasting in our city during the summer season.

Methods: This case-control study was carried out in Rizgary Teaching Hospital, Erbil- Iraq from 1^st of August to 30^th of August 2011. Patients were included in this study if they were middle aged and elderly patients having clinical and radiological features of stroke, another group of in-patients was selected as a control group. Chi square test and logistic regression analyses were used to show the association between stroke and fasting.

Results: A sample of 60 patients and 60 control cases were included in this study. Fasting was significant risk factor for stroke in our studied sample, 66.7% of the cases were fasting compared with 40% of the control group (P = 0.03). Hyperlipidemia and history of ischemic heart disease found also to be associated with stroke (P = 0.017 and 0.011, respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed that only fasting and hypercholesterolemia were independent risks factors in causing stroke in our studied sample.

Conclusion: In Erbil, where the summer is too hot and the daytime (fasting hours) is long, fasting during Ramadan was found to be an independent risk factor for stroke, and specifically ischemic stroke.

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