Silent Heart Attacks Appear to Increase Future Stroke Risk in Older Adults

A study to be presented at the American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference 2021 suggests that silent heart attacks appear to elevate stroke risk in adults 65 and older, reports News-Medical . The researchers analyzed health information on more than 4,200 participants in the Cardiovascular Health Study. Participants who had evidence of a silent heart attack had a 47 percent higher risk of developing a stroke, versus those who did not have a silent heart attack. Participants who exhibited classic heart attack symptoms also had an 80-fold greater risk of stroke within one month after their heart attack, compared to heart attack-free subjects. Following the high-risk, one-month period, participants with classic heart attack symptoms had a 60 percent increased risk of having a stroke. "Our research suggests the increased risk for having a stroke in those with silent heart attacks is similar to the risk found in traditional heart attacks," said Weill Cornell Medicine Professor Alexander E. Merkler. "A silent heart attack may be capable of causing clots in the heart that dislodge and travel to the brain causing a stroke." These findings suggest that patients presenting evidence of a silent heart attack on an electrocardiogram should be considered at higher stroke risk.