TUESDAY, Oct. 11, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- The eyes may be more than the windows to the soul; they may also help doctors predict stroke risk, according to a new Australian study.
The seven-year study of nearly 3,700 people aged 49 and older found that people with changes in the small blood vessels in their eyes were 70 percent more likely to suffer a stroke than people without the damage, which includes tiny bulges (microaneurysms) in the blood vessels or tiny blood spots caused by blood leaking from microaneurysms.
At the start of the study, the investigators took special photographs of the retinas of the study volunteers. They examined these photos for signs of small blood vessel damage and then tracked the volunteers for seven years.
The findings remained true even after the researchers accounted for traditional stroke risk factors such as high blood pressure and smoking.
"The blood vessels in the eyes share similar anatomical characteristics and other characteristics with the blood vessels in the brain," Dr. Paul Mitchell of the University of Sydney, said in a prepared statement. "More research needs to be done to confirm these results, but it's exciting to think that this fairly simple procedure could help us predict whether someone will be more likely to have a stroke several years later."
The study appears in the October 11 issue of the journal Neurology.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about stroke risk factors and symptoms.
