Prevalence of Antiphospholipid Antibodies May Signal Future Risk of MI, Stroke

With your risk of dementia post stroke it is imperative your doctor performs this test on you and have protocols in place to prevent your likely chances of dementia.

Your risk of dementia, has your doctor told you of this?  Your doctor is responsible for preventing this!

1. A documented 33% dementia chance post-stroke from an Australian study?   May 2012.

2. Then this study came out and seems to have a range from 17-66%. December 2013.`    

3. A 20% chance in this research.   July 2013.

4. Dementia Risk Doubled in Patients Following Stroke September 2018 

The latest here:

Prevalence of Antiphospholipid Antibodies May Signal Future Risk of MI, Stroke

Seemingly healthy people whose blood contained antibodies associated with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) were significantly more likely to experience a cardiovascular event, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

“In this population-based cohort study including 2,427 participants, the prevalence

of any antiphospholipid antibodies tested by solid-phase assays at a single time point was 14.5%, with approximately one-third of those detected at a moderate or high titre,” reported James de Lemos, MD, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, Texas, and colleagues. “The IgA [immunoglobulin A] isotypes of anticardiolipin and anti-beta-2 glycoprotein I were associated with future atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events.”

The research team tested blood that had been collected from study participants between 2007 and 2009 and looked for the presence and amounts of 8 different antiphospholipid antibodies. They analysed these data along with questionnaire responses gathered during a follow-up period that averaged 8 years to see which participants experienced a cardiovascular event, including myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, coronary bypass surgery, or death from cardiovascular disease.

The researchers detected antiphospholipid antibodies in about 14.5% of the 2,427 study participants. About a third of those had antibody levels that were considered moderate or high. Over the follow-up period, 125 individuals experienced cardiovascular events.

After adjusting for risk factors such as age, sex, race, body mass index, smoking history, cholesterol levels, and diabetes, the researchers found that the presence of 2 particular antiphospholipid antibodies -- aCL IgA and ab2GPI IgA -- was associated with a future cardiovascular event. In participants with relatively higher levels of these 2 antibodies, this connection was even stronger.

Dr. de Lemos noted that because antibody levels can be transient and blood samples were done on a single visit, more studies are needed to better understand whether antiphospholipid antibodies remain elevated in people without diagnosed APS and how this might relate to heart disease.

Ravi Sarode, MD, University of Texas Southwestern, said that if further research supports the study’s initial findings, labs would be able to test patients for antiphospholipid antibodies.

“These antibodies are easy to test; we test them all the time in our lab for certain patients,” said Dr. Sarode. “It is very important to note that very few labs test for these specific antibodies. However, we would need more information to use them in the right clinical setting for patients who may be at higher risk of MI or stroke.”

Reference: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2803031

SOURCE: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Prevalence of Antiphospholipid Antibodies May Signal Future Risk of MI, Stroke

 Does your doctor and stroke hospital have enough brains to include this as a testing protocol and an intervention protocol to prevent these problems from occurring? Competent persons would.

And your doctor should have known about this a decade ago:

Autoimmune disease linked to pregnancy loss, stroke more often than you’d expect

 November 2012

Prevalence of Antiphospholipid Antibodies May Signal Future Risk of MI, Stroke

Seemingly healthy people whose blood contained antibodies associated with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) were significantly more likely to experience a cardiovascular event, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

“In this population-based cohort study including 2,427 participants, the prevalence

of any antiphospholipid antibodies tested by solid-phase assays at a single time point was 14.5%, with approximately one-third of those detected at a moderate or high titre,” reported James de Lemos, MD, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, Texas, and colleagues. “The IgA [immunoglobulin A] isotypes of anticardiolipin and anti-beta-2 glycoprotein I were associated with future atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events.”

The research team tested blood that had been collected from study participants between 2007 and 2009 and looked for the presence and amounts of 8 different antiphospholipid antibodies. They analysed these data along with questionnaire responses gathered during a follow-up period that averaged 8 years to see which participants experienced a cardiovascular event, including myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, coronary bypass surgery, or death from cardiovascular disease.

The researchers detected antiphospholipid antibodies in about 14.5% of the 2,427 study participants. About a third of those had antibody levels that were considered moderate or high. Over the follow-up period, 125 individuals experienced cardiovascular events.

After adjusting for risk factors such as age, sex, race, body mass index, smoking history, cholesterol levels, and diabetes, the researchers found that the presence of 2 particular antiphospholipid antibodies -- aCL IgA and ab2GPI IgA -- was associated with a future cardiovascular event. In participants with relatively higher levels of these 2 antibodies, this connection was even stronger.

Dr. de Lemos noted that because antibody levels can be transient and blood samples were done on a single visit, more studies are needed to better understand whether antiphospholipid antibodies remain elevated in people without diagnosed APS and how this might relate to heart disease.

Ravi Sarode, MD, University of Texas Southwestern, said that if further research supports the study’s initial findings, labs would be able to test patients for antiphospholipid antibodies.

“These antibodies are easy to test; we test them all the time in our lab for certain patients,” said Dr. Sarode. “It is very important to note that very few labs test for these specific antibodies. However, we would need more information to use them in the right clinical setting for patients who may be at higher risk of MI or stroke.”

Reference: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2803031

SOURCE: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Autoimmune disease linked to pregnancy loss, stroke more often than you’d expect

If you were diagnosed with a cryptogenic stroke talk to your doctor about this.
 http://www.sciencecodex.com/autoimmune_disease_linked_to_pregnancy_loss_stroke_more_often_than_you_d_expect-101793
For years, researchers have known that antiphospholipid antibodies (aPLs) can cause pregnancy loss and clotting, but they haven't known the true scope of the problem. Now a new study provides the first estimates of the prevalence of these antibodies in patients suffering from pregnancy loss, stroke, myocardial infarction, and deep vein thrombosis.
"Based on the available data, our best estimate is that around 10 to 15% of clotting disorders are associated with autoimmune antiphospholipid antibodies," said Doruk Erkan, M.D., an associate attending rheumatologist and clinician researcher at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, who is the senior researcher of the study.
The research will be presented on Nov. 13, at 3:15 p.m. ET, during the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ACR/ARHP), to be held Nov. 9-14, in Washington D.C.
In some individuals, aPLs do not cause any health problems, but in others, aPLs can trigger production of proteins that can cause inflammation and increase the risk for the formation of clots. This can cause pregnancy complications, strokes, heart attacks, and blood clots in other organs. Individuals who are aPL-positive and have either venous thrombosis, arterial thrombosis, or fetal loss are classified as having antiphospholipid syndrome (APS).
To get a grasp on the magnitude of the aPL problem, an international group of researchers searched PubMed to identify studies that involved patients with pregnancy loss, stroke, myocardial infarction or deep vein thrombosis, and that also tested patients for aPLs. They identified 108 papers and analyzed them for the type of outcome, the aPL tests used, the definition of positive aPL (low, medium, or high), confirmation of aPL, and the prevalence of positive aPL in the study population.
aPLs were found in 12% of individuals with a pregnancy loss, 14% of patients who had a stroke, 13% of patients who had a myocardial infarction, and 10% of patients who had deep vein thrombosis. Using databases that estimate the United States' prevalence of these conditions, the researchers extrapolated from their study data that aPLs are associated with approximately 60,000 cases of pregnancy loss, 120,000 cases of stroke, 120,000 cases of myocardial infarction, and 30,000 cases of deep vein thrombosis.
The researchers note that the estimates are limited by a lack of robust data. Many of the reports were old and didn't use the same classification criteria that are used today. In addition, the majority of the studies did not firmly establish the presence of aPLs in patients by performing two tests 12 weeks apart, something that is considered essential to confirm a diagnosis today. But despite the limitations, the new study does provide a rough snapshot of the prevalence of aPLs in patients with a number of health conditions.
"Accepting all of the limitations of the literature, the study does provide an estimate, which is important to raise awareness of aPLs and the health problems they cause. These numbers are also important for AntiPhospholipid Syndrome Alliance for Clinical Trials and International Networking (APS ACTION) while designing clinical trials," said Dr Erkan, who is also the executive committee chair of the newly formed clinical research organization.