Stroke protocol here? Or are dying stroke survivors not a problem? I had heart artery screening 2 years later and was declared to have clean heart arteries. I had to initiate this testing on my own.
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=160085&CultureCode=en
A new study has revealed that more than a third of stroke patients
with no known history of heart disease have significant tightening of
the arteries around their heart (coronary artery disease) and three
percent will go on to suffer a heart attack within a year.
The research, led by Professor Pankaj Sharma at the Institute of
Cardiovascular Research at Royal Holloway, University of London and
Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital, Surrey, reviewed data from 50,000
individuals to establish the risk of heart disease and heart attack in
stroke patients with no medical history of heart problems.
The research, published in BMJ Open today (20 January), establishes
that stroke patients are significantly at risk of coronary artery
disease and heart attack even in the absence of symptoms associated with
the disease. Those with silent heart disease do not experience any
symptoms and therefore can remain undiagnosed, without access to
treatment that can help manage the symptoms and reduce the future chance
of a heart attack.
In the largest study of its kind, researchers found that one in three
stroke patients have 50 percent coronary stenosis - meaning that plaque
build-up is constricting the inner diameter of the artery by half,
restricting the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart. In 3 percent of
cases, patients will experience a heart attack within one year of their
stroke – higher than previously thought.
The researchers recommend that following a stroke all patients should
be assessed by cardiologists and screened for silent heart disease and
this new protocol should be mandated by the NHS, something not routinely
done in the UK.
Lead researcher Professor Pankaj Sharma from the Institute of
Cardiovascular Research at Royal Holloway, said: “Following a stroke
most stroke patients go on to die of heart disease rather than their
stroke. Our research findings go a long way to explaining why this is
the case. We are urging the NHS to screen all stroke patients for silent
heart disease to prevent the deaths of thousands of patients each year.
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