The New Easy Stroke Risk Check

It just got easier to identify imminent stroke, according to a recent study from the Singapore Eye Research Institute. So easy in fact, that all you have to do is say “cheese”.

The researchers behind the study have discovered an amazing new way to identify whether or not a person is headed for a stroke without any invasive tests, and it’s as simple as taking a photograph.

It’s been known for a long time that high blood pressure damages blood vessels throughout the body, even in the very smallest ones, like those found in the retina. It’s also been known that chronic high blood pressure can lead to stroke.

Up to now, the methods used to find out for sure whether a patient with high blood pressure is going to have a stroke any time soon have been invasive.

It’s always better if is a non-invasive method, and the Singapore study found that it could be something called retinal photography. It involves taking a picture of your eye, it gives a very accurate result and it’s completely non-invasive.

Changes in the blood vessels of the retina are a giveaway for high blood pressure, because the changes they can see in the eye are the same changes that happen in the brain. So, the eye can give doctors an early warning system.

In the study, people with high blood pressure were followed for more than 13 years and researchers labelled effects on their eyes (called hypertensive retinopathy) as severe, mild, or none.

People with severe retinopathy had a 137% higher risk of having a stroke than those with none. Mild retinopathy meant they were 35% more likely to suffer from a stroke.

This looks really promising, but it’s still early days. More research is needed to backup these conclusions.

We are sure that this new approach will help in time, but until then you can reduce your high blood pressure to 120/80 (even within a day) with these 3 simple exercises…