Stroke risk may be partly determined by our parents' stroke history, US researchers have found.
Few studies have investigated the extent to which stroke risk is inherited, although there is evidence that CHD risk is.
The study included data from 1,925 people from the second generation of the Framingham Heart Study, and their parents.
Researchers identified 542 strokes in the first generation and 33 in the second. People whose parents had suffered a stroke by age 65 had a risk of ischaemic stroke three times greater than those with stroke-free parents. This association was independent of known stroke risk factors.
