Submitted by administrator on
It seems that recent studies in Switzerland have suggested that opticians may soon be the first line of defence against strokes in patients that they see for routine or scheduled eye examinations. It is not the first time that eye doctors and ophthalmologists have been put forward as having an opportunity to diagnose non vision related disorders with many calls for diabetes screening to take place, whilst others have suggested that tests could provide further insight into a patients susceptibility to heart failure and disease.
Courtesy of the Stroke Association, these figures show just how much the condition can affect every person in the UK in one form or another:
- There are over 1,000,000 stroke survivors in the UK.
- Over 500,000 sufferers are left with disabilities following their stroke.
- As many as 150,000 people suffer a stroke each year in the United Kingdom.
- Strokes are not age dependent although around 2/3rds affect those over the age of 65.
- It is estimated that strokes account for around £8.2 billion every year in one way or another.
One of the risk factors involving strokes is carotid artery stenosis, or CAS. This is an artery-blocking condition that is a sign of likely future stroke risks. Swiss researchers in Zurich have discovered a test which can detect this issue, with the hope that in finding this early and treating it, the risk of stroke can be reduced significantly.
The role that an ophthalmologist or optician plays in all this, is the test procedure itself. The doctor would use a device to measure blood pressure in the eye at two distinct points of a heartbeat, the diastolic and systolic. The blood pressure results difference provides the patients ocular pulse amplitude. This reading can determine whether the individual is at risk of stroke. It is suggested that those with a low score, are more likely to suffer a stroke due to more intensely blocked arteries.