New tool predicts the risk of ischemic stroke

The way we eat leaves its mark on our body, also in something as concrete as the fats that circulate in the blood. A study led by the Research Institute of the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) has gone one step further by developing a tool capable of quantify the quality of those fats and relate it to the risk of suffering an ischemic stroke.

The work, whose results are published by the magazine European Stroke Journalhas had the participation of researchers from the CIBER of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN) and the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP).

The researchers selected nine types of fats present in the blooddirectly related to diet. Six of them are associated with a healthy diet and come from the consumption of nuts, seed oils, oily fish and dairy products. The other three are linked to ultra-processed foods, sugars and alcoholwhich provide excess energy and have no positive effects on health.

From this classification, the team created an index that allows us to assess whether the balance between some fats and others can anticipate the risk of stroke. To verify this, data from the EPIC cohortselecting 438 people who had suffered an ischemic stroke in Granada, Navarra and Murcia. Their results were compared with those of another 438 people with similar characteristics who had not suffered from this problem.

Results

The analysis of the blood samples was clear: those who had a highest fat index scorethat is, a better quality in their lipid profile, presented a 14% less risk of suffering an ischemic stroke.

To confirm the validity of the tool, the researchers turned to a second population with a different profile: the US cohort Framingham Offspring Study. There, 121 stroke cases were analyzed among more than 2,800 participants, proving that the index also worked in this context.

The researcher Iolanda Lazarofrom the Cardiovascular Risk and Nutrition Research Group of the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and CIBEROBN, summarizes the main conclusion: “A less presence of negative and more positive fats in the bloodcoming from a balanced diet, the risk of ischemic stroke is reduced“.