Hypertension is the primary and interventional risk factor for stroke. Increased blood pressure is in direct proportion to the occurrence of stroke, and effective control of blood pressure can reduce the incidence of stroke [5].Hypertension has been troubling countless people for many years, often accompanied by disorders of fat and sugar metabolism and changes in heart, brain, kidney, retina and other organs.Gong Tao reported the statistics of the Ministry of Health in 2007 in China, cerebrovascular disease ranks the first among public death diseases[6]. Stroke is the most common type of cerebrovascular disease, among which ischemic stroke accounts for 80% ~ 85% of all strokes.Hypertension leads to hyaline or fibrous changes in the wall of the small artery at the skull base and pathological changes such as focal hemorrhage, ischemia and necrosis, etc. The strength of the wall of the vessel is weakened, resulting in localized dilation and formation of tiny aneurysms. On this pathological basis, the cerebral vascular rupture of the lesion causes hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage.Patients with cerebral hemorrhage before the presence of emotional excitement, excessive physical activity or other factors can induce a sudden increase in blood pressure.There were also three cases of cerebral hemorrhage in 454 hypertensive patients.Carotid intima-media thickness ≥ 1.0mm is considered as thickening. All 3 patients with intracerebral hemorrhage had carotid intima-media thickening and stable plaque. In 44 patients with acute cerebral infarction, there were 17 cases of carotid intima-media thickness thickening, 23 cases of unstable plaque and 5 cases of stable plaque.
Data show that the global incidence of ischemic stroke is 169/100,000 and the incidence of stroke increases with age[7].Acute progressive stroke refers to progressive or stepped-up progression of neurological deficit symptoms within 48h after stroke onset. It is a clinical process rather than an independent disease unit. Patients often suffer from deterioration of the condition due to aggravation of brain damage, with significantly increased disability rate and fatality rate. Tei H et al. reported that the study of Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project(OCSP) showed that the incidence of progressive Stroke was 41.9%, 6.3%, 26.2%, and 21.7%, respectively, among the four types of TACI, PACI, LACI, and POCI, with the highest incidence of progressive Stroke among TACI patients[8]. In this study, 5 cases of progressive stroke occurred in the 4 groups, including group B and Group C. The incidence of progressive stroke in patients with TACI, PACI, LACI and POCI was 33.3%, 0%, 13.2% and 7.7%, respectively. It was also confirmed that TACI patients had the highest incidence of progressive stroke, indicating that the identification of subtypes of acute cerebral infarction is of great significance to the prognosis of patients and the formulation of treatment plans.
It has been reported in the literature that smooth muscle cell recombination occurs in the arteriole wall, extracellular matrix, especially collagen increase, arteriole wall thickening and lumen thrombosis during hypertension, and hypertension is one of the major independent risk factors.Hypertension leads to increased vascular shear stress, hypertrophy of the inner wall of blood vessels, changes the ability of vascular endothelial cells to release vasoactive substances, brain circulatory regulation dysfunction, and right shift of the regulation curve[9]. Chen Yuhui et al. showed that the incidence of hypertension, hyperfibrinogenemia, atrial fibrillation and carotid artery plaque was higher in elderly patients with ischemic stroke, and systolic hypertension was the most important risk factor for elderly patients with ischemic stroke[10]. Xu Xin et al. found in their study that the important influencing factor of first cerebral infarction in hypertensive patients was compliance with antihypertensive drug therapy, good compliance was a protective factor, and poor compliance and last treatment for hypertensive patients were prone to cerebral infarction[11]. Vemmos KN et al. showed that blood pressure was positively correlated with the occurrence of stroke regardless of gender, age and type of stroke[12]. Therefore, sufficient attention should be paid to the active and effective control of blood pressure in the secondary prevention of cerebrovascular diseases. The benefits of antihypertensive treatment mainly come from the antihypertensive itself. It is necessary to understand the antihypertensive ability of various antihypertensive drugs under the guarantee of safety.
Diabetes is an important risk factor for cerebrovascular disease. The incidence of stroke in diabetic patients is more than 1 times higher than that in non-diabetic patients, and about 20% of diabetic patients eventually die of stroke[13]. The measurement of HbA1c in high-risk population of cerebrovascular disease is very helpful to assess the risk of first stroke.HbA1c in diabetic patients can reflect the average blood glucose level 2 to 3 months before blood collection. Compared with fasting blood glucose, HbA1c is less affected by various factors, and is an important indicator to measure blood glucose control in diabetic patients. Daimon M et al. proved that increased HbA1c can induce and promote atherosclerosis[14]. Possible mechanisms of stroke in diabetes mellitus: (1)Hyperglycemia causes endothelial injury:Vascular endothelium specific injury is one of the characteristics of T2DM. The bioactivity of endothelial nitric oxide in brain circulation of diabetic patients is reduced compared with that of normal subjects. (2)Hyperglycemia causes accumulation of blood lactic acid:Accumulation of lactic acid causes intracellular acidosis, increases lipid peroxidation and produces free radicals, promotes intracellular calcium overload, destroys mitochondrial functional mechanisms, and aggravates and promotes ischemic brain tissue damage. (3)Hyperglycemia destroys the blood-brain barrier: hyperglycemia after stroke leads to the destruction of the blood-brain barrier, leading to cerebral edema and hemorrhagic transformation after ischemia.(4)Hyperglycemia promotes the accumulation of central excitatory amino acid glutamate: glutamate accumulates in the extracellular area and activates the post-synaptic glutamate receptor, which induces the over-opening of calcium channels and leads to mitochondrial damage and neuronal death.
Hyperlipidemia, which is a cause and effect of hypertension and diabetes mellitus, is an important risk factor for cerebrovascular disease.The European 4S test showed that statins and various lipid-lowering drugs may stabilize atherosclerotic plaques and promote plaque stability by improving vascular endothelial function,anti-inflammator and anti-sympathetic effects[15].SPARCL study also verified that further lowering LDL-C level, even if LDL-C ≥ 2.60 ≤ 4.94mmol/L, can reduce recurrent stroke in patients with recent stroke or TRANSIENT ischemic attack[16]. Gong Tao pointed out the role of dyslipidemia in atherosclerotic stroke and the principles of clinical treatment[17]. Hypertriglyceridemia participates in the arteriosclerosis process by increasing small-particle LDL-C, lowering HDL-C and inhibiting fibrinolytic system.High concentration of LDL-C inactivates endothelium-derived relaxation factor or nitric oxide, reduces its deoxidization capacity, and induces excessive expression of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 mRNA in vascular endothelial cells, thus increasing the plasma level.In the case of hypertriglyceridemia, lipidization of cholesterol in phagocytes is enhanced, which promotes the formation and aggregation of foam cells and reduces the stability of atherosclerotic plaque.Hyperlipidemia has a strong effect of causing cerebrovascular diseases, especially when accompanied by hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance and hyperglycemia. Effective prevention and control of hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia in clinical practice is of great significance for reducing the incidence and mortality of stroke.Inzitari D et al. reported that hyperlipidemia was also an independent risk factor[18].Pan Xiaodong et al. found that T2DM patients with dyslipidemia were relatively simple in their study on the detection of thrombus formation indicatorsT2DM patients are more likely to be in a state of high adhesion and high coagulation, and more likely to form thrombosis[19].
Current research using stroke risk assessment tools, such as the Framingham stroke risk assessment (FSP), FSP using Cox proportional hazards model, to stroke risk factors (age, systolic blood pressure, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, have cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation and ecg showed left ventricular hypertrophy) as a covariate, score is calculated based on weighting coefficient model[20]. In some studies, FSP was used as reference for scoring, and indicators such as serum creatinine and stroke history were added[21],[22]. Flossmann E et al. found that ischemic stroke was affected by genetic factors, and the risk of ischemic stroke increased by about 30% in those with positive family histories[23].The application of stroke risk assessment tools is helpful to identify high-risk patients with stroke, and the screened high-risk patients should adopt individualized intervention treatment according to specific risk factors.
The American Heart Association, stroke Association and Chinese Neurology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association point out in the guidelines of "Primary prevention of stroke" that screening and prevention management of high-risk groups for stroke should be strengthened in addition to general prevention[24],[25],[26]. Hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and other factors have been recognized as important risk factors for recurrent cerebrovascular disease, also known as etiological vascular risk factors, and the incidence and level of etiological vascular risk factors can also affect the risk of recurrence [27]. Therapeutic lifestyle changes are not only the basis for the treatment of dyslipidemia in diabetic patients, but also the fundamental means to prevent dyslipidemia in diabetic patients [28]. Therefore, patients should be educated to adjust their diet and promote a healthy lifestyle, which includes weight loss, smoking cessation, alcohol control, salt restriction, aerobic exercise, attention to mental health, and optimistic and open-minded attitude towards life [29]. Gyundy SM et al. pointed out that statins can reduce LDL-C by 25% ~ 55%, and statins should be the first choice for both primary and secondary prevention[30].In the process of EH prevention and treatment, the treatment rate and control rate of EH can be improved through effective community intervention to improve patients' medication compliance[31]. In this study, 44 patients were followed up after 54 months of treatment for acute cerebral infarction, with the incidence of 9.69%, among which the incidence of TACI, PACI, LACI and POCI was 0.66%, 1.54%, 4.19% and 3.30%.The incidence of acute cerebral infarction was 25.00% in group A, 8.45% in group B, 21.28% in group C and 5.56% in group D.At present, sufficient evidence-based medicine has proved that the treatment of hypertension is beneficial to the primary and secondary prevention of stroke. The treatment of hypertension and the control of blood glucose and blood lipids, two risk factors, can reduce the risk of stroke, which has important clinical significance for the prevention of stroke.