Number of known stroke risk genes tripled

An international team of researchers part-funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has identified 22 new genetic risk factors for stroke, tripling the number of genetic mutations known to increase stroke risk. Researchers carrying out the MEGASTROKE study, published , studied the DNA of more than 520,000 people from around the world, comparing the genes of those who had suffered different types of strokes with healthy volunteers. The team hope that this major advance will lead to drugs to prevent multiple types of stroke. Around a third of the newly-discovered genetic variants - different versions of a gene - are thought to increase stroke risk by increasing a person's blood pressure, while the remainder appear to increase the risk of a stroke in completely new ways. One specific gene increased a person's risk of two very different types of stroke; haemorrhagic stroke - where a blood vessel bursts and bleeds into the brain - and ischaemic stroke - in which the blood supply to the brain is blocked, for example by a blood clot. The researchers believe that this discovery could pave the way for new drugs to help reduce the risk of a person suffering from both of these common types of stroke. There are more than 100,000 strokes each year in the UK, costing the healthcare system an estimated £2 billion.