Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (FM-SUP) found, in tests with 120 patients, that people who have already had a stroke are more likely to develop vascular diseases, in addition to having more episodes of stroke or heart attack. myocardium.
In the tests, the scientists analyzed the calcium score parameter in 80 patients who had an ischemic stroke, in addition to 40 other volunteers who had never suffered from the disease. Calcium score is assessed through CT scans, indicating the risk of the individual having fat deposited in the arteries of the heart, which is called atherosclerosis.
So, patients who have a score greater than zero are the most at risk of having artery disease, even if they do not have symptoms. Ana Luiza Vieira de Araújo, the main author of the study, explains that, among patients who had a stroke, 85% had a calcium score above zero, while patients who had never had a stroke had a score of 57.5%.
“Patients with stroke and atherosclerotic plaques in cervical and intracranial arteries had higher calcium scores than other research participants”, says Araújo. “This does not mean that these people will necessarily have a heart attack or other stroke, but the fact that they have this result even when undergoing treatment to avoid the problem raises a warning,” he adds.
According to Adriana Bastos Conforto, coordinator of the study, people undergoing post-stroke treatment need to monitor the case with much more attention to avoid a new stroke or an episode of heart attack. “Patients who have had a stroke often have cognitive sequelae and have difficulty adhering to treatment. The results suggest that they would need to be monitored more closely, for example, by professionals from the SUS Family Health Program. This and other strategies could avoid who died of heart problems even though they survived the stroke,” says the specialist.
The full study is available in the scientific journal Fortune Journals.