According to a recent study, there is a close correlation between stroke and blood type. In other words, some people would have a higher or lower risk of early stroke based on the blood group they belong to. Here’s what the science says about it.
Stroke is a cerebrovascular disease. In other words, it occurs when the blood supply to the brain is cut off due to blockage of an artery.
This disease can cause movement problems, speech and thinking difficulties and, in the worst cases, death. In fact, in Italy it is the third cause of death and the first cause of disability. Hence the importance of study coordinated by the University of Maryland and then published in Neurology.
The research analyzed the strokes of 17,000 patients under the age of 60 in various countries. According to what emerged, just like many other health problems, the risk of having a stroke would also depend on our genes and, in this case, on the portion of DNA that determines our blood group. Basically, there is a blood group associated with an increased risk of early stroke. But which blood group is the highest risk? Let’s see in detail what the study says.
The researchers, performing a meta analysis of 48 studies on genetics and ischemic stroke, tried to understand whether belonging to one blood group rather than another could lead to a lower or higher risk of stroke.
As we anticipated, the research analyzed 17,000 patients under 60 in different countries. From the analyzes carried out, it emerged a higher incidence of stroke in people belonging to blood group A. While, it seems that those who belong to blood group 0, would have a much lower risk percentage than the others. Specifically, subjects with blood group A would have a 16% higher risk than subjects belonging to other blood groups. While, those who belong to blood group 0 would have a 12% lower risk of stroke than the others.
However, the reason for this association between stroke and blood group is not yet fully understood. However, according to the researchers, the explanation may lie in a greater or lesser propensity to clot formation determined by some characteristic linked to the blood group. In this regard, further studies are underway to confirm these assumptions.