Stroke is a common health problem particularly in Africans. It can occur when blood flow to a part of the brain is cut-off by a blood clot that originates typically in the heart, or when blood vessels in the brain or neck are clogged. Stroke can also be caused by bleeding into the brain. In many persons who have suffered a stroke, however, the stroke is somewhat mysterious because a cause is not identified. What these researchers found is that previous "silent heart attack" may the explanation for some of these mysterious strokes (or stroke of undetermined cause). Unlike typical heart attack that causes chest pain, shortness of breath and so on, silent heart attack is so-called because it occurs without any significant symptoms. The researchers determined that someone who has had a silent heart attack has double the risk of later having a stroke of undetermined cause. This makes silent heart attack ominous. To lower the risk of having a heart attack of any kind, one should avoid or properly manage risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol, and avoid smoking.
