People with a common heart problem could be at higher risk of having a stroke or developing a form of dementia than previously thought, according to a study. While some people with atrial fibrillation (AF) - an irregular heartbeat - are deemed to be at risk of having a stroke and given preventative medicine, others are not. Academics said that the risk assessment tools used to decide who should be given these drugs only have "modest" capabilities.
They also do not factor in other blood clot-related illnesses such as vascular dementia - a form of dementia caused by reduced blood flow to the brain. Researchers set out to assess whether people with AF deemed to be at low risk of developing strokes and other blood clots - who would not normally be prescribed blood thinners - may actually still suffer negative outcomes. The team from the University of Birmingham examined data on more than five million people registered with UK GP practices.
Among these they identified 36,340 AF patients who had no history of stroke, a low perceived risk of stroke and no oral anticoagulant (blood thinners) prescription. They were tracked for an average of five years to assess their risk of strokes, vascular dementia or death. Their data was also compared with information held on 117,000 healthy people without AF.
Despite being in the low-risk group, some 3.8% of AF patients monitored had a stroke, compared with 1.5% of healthy people.
Some 9% of people with AF died compared with 5% of healthy peopl.
