Eyes May Provide Window To Future Strokes

The results held true even after researchers took into accounttraditional risk factors for stroke such as smoking and high bloodpressure, according to the study published in the October 11, 2005issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy ofNeurology.

The study involved 3,654 Australians age 49 and older. Researchers tookspecial photographs of the retina of the eyes of the participants andexamined them for changes suggestive of small blood vessel damage, orretinopathy. These small vessel changes can be seen in the early stagesof the condition, well before eyesight is affected.

"The blood vessels in the eyes share similar anatomical characteristicsand other characteristics with the blood vessels in the brain," saidPaul Mitchell, MD, PhD, of the University of Sydney in Australia. "Moreresearch needs to be done to confirm these results, but it's excitingto think that this fairly simple procedure could help us predictwhether someone will be more likely to have a stroke several yearslater."

The researchers followed the participants for seven years, trackingwhich participants had strokes or transient ischemic attacks, alsocalled mini-strokes. For those who died during the study, researchersexamined the cause of death to determine whether stroke was involved.

Those with eye blood vessel damage were 70 percent more likelyto have a stroke during the study than those without the damage. Therisk was higher in those with small vessel signs in the eye but withoutsevere high blood pressure; they were 2.7 times more likely to have astroke than those without eye signs. The risk was also higher for thosewith more than one type of blood vessel lesion. (Because diabetes cancause this type of eye damage, these results did not includeparticipants with diabetes, which is also a risk factor for stroke.)

The signs of damage include tiny bulges in the blood vessels, ormicroaneurysms, and hemorrhages, or tiny blood spots where themicroaneurysms leak blood.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of nearly 19,000neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improvingpatient care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctorwith specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managingdisorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease,epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and stroke. For moreinformation about the American Academy of Neurology, visit www.aan.com.

Editor's Note: Stroke affects more than 700,000 people in theUnited States per year. Nearly 25 percent of people who recover fromtheir first stroke will have another stroke within five years. Thewarning signs of stroke include:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden severe headache with no known cause