Stroke Association comment on New blood test predicts risk of heart attack and stroke with twice previous accuracy

Dr Richard Francis, Head of Research Stroke Association said: “We welcome these promising findings for a new blood test which may be able to predict a person’s risk of stroke and heart attack. This test may have the potential to help prevent strokes by guiding treatment decisions, so those at highest risk of stroke are prescribed additional medications. The test could also speed up the development of new treatments getting into the clinic. This test looked at proteins in the blood and was better at predicting someone's risk of stroke vs the previous clinical standard which looked at other markers, such as blood fats, blood pressure and age.

“The study used data from previously conducted clinical trials. More research is needed to show whether this test can accurately predict stroke and heart attack risk before people develop these conditions and whether it preforms better than current clinical practice. The biggest thing you can do to reduce your risk of stroke is to manage your known risk factors. Our advice is to monitor your blood pressure, exercise regularly and eat a healthy and balanced diet. If you are worried about your risk of stroke talk to your GP.”