Test as a baby may predict risk of stroke later in life

A DNA test in the first days of life might be able to predict those people likely to have a stroke decades later, following new Melbourne-led international research.

The predictive genetic test is able to show those at three times the risk of suffering a stroke during their lives, and would allow people in the greatest peril to alter their lifestyle and offset the danger.

By using a simple blood or saliva sample, scientists from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute — with colleagues from Germany and the UK — have been able to identify the roughly one in 400 people most likely to have an ischaemic stroke.

The study found their genetic test is as good or better at predicting who will suffer a stroke than current methods, such as looking at a patient’s family history, blood pressure, body mass index and smoking habits.

Lead author Dr Michael Inouye, of the Baker Institute, said genomic sequencing had the huge advantage of being able to highlight a person’s risk from birth.

“We can’t make an individual-level prediction,” Dr Inouye said.

“It is like throwing a dice … these people are at elevated risk and it might be prudent to minimise their conventional risk factors.”

Having an early warning would help identify those needing extra attention long before the danger emerged.

Dr Inouye said the researchers planned to combine the stroke genetic test with other heart disease markers for trials over the coming years.