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Blood test could could predict strokes 'six years early'

 A simple blood test may be able to predict if someone is likely to suffer a stroke up to six years before it happens.

Doctors can tell who is most at risk by looking to see if they have high levels of a certain protein in their blood.

This protein, known as Lp-Pla2, has been shown to be linked with strokes even in patients who have no other risk factors, such as raised cholesterol or high blood pressure.

The Food And Drug Administration, which vets new treatments in the U.S., recently sanctioned the use of the test, which is known as the PLAC test.

Now the company which developed it, San Francisco-based diaDexus Inc, plans to introduce the test in the UK next year.

Strokes, which are caused when a clot forms and blocks the blood supply to the brain, kill around 200 people every day in the UK.

Many more are left disabled and live in fear that a second or even third attack could kill them.

It is estimated to cost the NHS £2.3 billion a year to treat and look after the 100,000 people annually struck down by the life-threatening condition. Only cancer and heart disease kill more people.

As with heart disease, it's known that an unhealthy lifestyle that includes fatty foods, excess alcohol and smoking dramatically increases the risk of a stroke.

This drives up cholesterol levels and increases blood pressure. Blood vessels become clogged with fatty deposits that can dislodge and make their way to the brain, depriving it of vital oxygen.

However, doctors acknowledge that a significant number of people fall victim to strokes despite having no obvious risk factors.

In recent years, studies have suggested that levels of the Lp-Pla2 protein could be crucial. The protein, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2, is an enzyme found in blood and the deposits that form on artery walls when heart disease has set in.

One study found that people with high levels of the protein were at increased risk of a stroke, even if they had normal cholesterol, blood pressure and body mass index.

Doctors checked Lp-Pla2 levels in nearly 13,000 people and tracked them for six years to see who had a stroke. Those with excess protein had double the risk.

The danger of an attack was greater still for those who had both high protein levels and raised blood pressure.

Patients identified as high risk could then be prescribed drugs called statins, which are already widely used to treat raised cholesterol-Some studies suggest that statins can significantly reduce Lp-Pla2 levels as well. Leading pharmaceutical companies are also thought to be developing new drugs targeted at Lp-Pla2.

'The PLAC test will help doctors more accurately predict who is at risk from future strokes, so they can take preventative measures,' said Dr Christie Ballantyne from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

'These could be lifestyle modification or taking statins and aspirin.'

Professor Kennedy Lees, a stroke expert at Glasgow Western Infirmary, said that although the PLAC test might prove useful, it would never replace the wellknown risk factors. 'The bottom line is that cholesterol, blood pressure and smoking would still be a higher priority,' he said.

The Stroke Association said the test could be useful, providing there is hard evidence drug treatments can reduce levels of the protein.