A simple blood test could detect your stroke risk

Women with elevated levels of a certain protein in their blood are at a higher risk of stroke, a new study reveals.

Those with the highest protein levels are 56 per cent more likely to have a stroke than women with the lowest amounts, the research found.

Study author Dr Pamela Rist, Harvard Medical School, said: 'Given the high rate of disability from stroke, it is important to identify people who may be at higher risk of this disease. 

'This protein could be a marker that might help us in the fight against stroke.'

In the US, around 795,000 people have a stroke each year. The disorder affects approximately 152,000 Britons annually. 

Researchers from Harvard Medical School analysed blood samples from 473 women who had suffered an ischemic stroke within an average of nine years and 473 women of the same age who had not.

Ischemic stroke is the most common form of the disorder and occurs when the brain's blood supply is blocked.  

The women were matched based on other factors that can affect stroke risk, including smoking history and hormonal treatment use. 

Results, published in the journal Neurology, revealed that women who had previously had a stroke had an average blood protein level of 1.86mg per liter versus 1.80mg per liter in those who had no stroke history.  

When the participants were divided into four groups according to their protein levels, those in the highest group were 56 per cent more likely to have a stroke than those in the lowest quarter. 

The researchers added, however, the study was only conducted among white women and may not reflect results for other ethnicities.

They also did not examine protein level change and its possible impact on stroke risk.  

Dr Rist added: 'Further studies are needed to determine if beta-2 microglobulin levels can be modified through lifestyle changes.' 

The effect of protein levels in men is also unclear. 

This comes after researchers from the University of Nottingham found putting a special skin patch on a stroke patient’s arm on their way to hospital could slash their risk of dying by half. 

The 39p patch contains drugs that lower blood pressure and relax veins and arteries, improving circulation to the brain.  

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