Researchers have said that high levels of the amino acid homocysteine in the blood is linked directly to stroke risk. Doctors had long suspected that this was the case and have had these suspicions confirmed by a London-based team.
The team researched groups of people with a genetic risk of high homocysteine levels and found more stroke cases among them than in control groups. Whether taking folic acid to decrease the levels is safe in the long term is still being researched.
A spokeswoman from the Stroke Association said: "The Stroke Association is watching the progress of the (folic acid) trials with interest and welcomes any future research that will help to reduce the 130,000 strokes that occur each year."
