NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - High levels of triglycerides, a fatty molecule found in the blood, detected while a person is not fasting, are associated with an increased risk of stroke, according to analysis of data from the Copenhagen City Heart Study.

"The role of triglycerides in the risk of...stroke remains controversial," Dr. Borge G. Nordestgaard and colleagues write in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

However, they note, most studies examining this topic have focused only on triglyceride levels taken during fasting. The possibility of a link with nonfasting triglyceride levels is supported by two recent studies showing a direct relationship between these levels and the risks of heart attack and death.

To determine if a similar association might also exist with stroke, Nordestgaard, from Copenhagen University Hospital, and co-researchers analyzed data from 13,956 CCHS participants who were followed from 1976 to July 2007.

During follow-up, 1529 subjects sustained a stroke. The risk of stroke was directly related to the nonfasting triglyceride level. Men and women with the highest levels were 2.5- and 3.8-times more likely, respectively, to experience a stroke than their peers with low levels.

"Our results, together with those from two previous studies, suggest that elevated levels of nonfasting triglycerides...could be considered together with elevated levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol for prediction of cardiovascular risk"

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, November 12, 2008.