Eye test may expose stroke risk

 
MONDAY, August 12, 2013 — A simple eye exam can shed light on cases of high blood pressure as a primary risk factor for stroke. “Our focus in this current study was to examine people who already have a high blood pressure,” said Kamran Ikram, MD, PhD, lead author of the study. Dr. Ikram is assistant professor in the Singapore Eye Research Institute at the National University of Singapore.
“Among all those persons who have high blood pressure," Dr. Ikram said, "it is still not possible to predict exactly who will develop a stroke," a condition in which a blood clot or bleeding in the brain can cause disability or death.
Ikram and other researchers followed 2,907 patients with high blood pressure — ages 50 to 73 years — for 13 years to see if there was a way to predict stroke among those with hypertension.
“As the back side of the eye — called the retina — gives an easily assessable way to examine damage to small blood vessels due to high blood pressure," Ikram said, "we tried to examine if such a simple eye examination may also give additional information on the development of stroke.” The eye’s retina has a layer of light-sensitive cells where, if there were differences among the high blood pressure patients, they would be clearly visible.
During the course of the long study, 146 of the patients had stroke from a blood clot in the brain, and 15 more had stroke from bleeding in the brain.
“In our study this eye exam was performed in a research setting,” added Ikram. “We showed in persons with high blood pressure that damage to the blood vessels in the retina, called hypertensive retinopathy, is linked to an increased risk of stroke,” he said. This difference in risk existed even if high blood pressure was under control with medication.
The eye exam at the optometrist has typically been used to visualize damage to the eye from optical causes, not to predict stroke. Photographing the retina of the eye — a test called assessment of hypertensive retinopathy — is something that can be done in a primary care clinic, in optical shops, or in a hospital.
Ikram cautioned that his results are preliminary. “At this stage it is too early to recommend changes in clinical practice. Other studies need to confirm our findings and show that retinal imaging provides additional information on predicting the risk of stroke in persons with high blood pressure," he said.
KEY TAKEAWAYS

• High blood pressure is the most important risk factor for stroke.
• Research shows a simple exam in which the back of the eye is photographed may be able to determine which hypertension patients are most at risk for stroke.
• Researchers say it is too early to change clinical practice, but in the future a photographic eye exam may help predict — and prevent — stroke.

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By Jennifer J Brown, PhD, Everyday Health Staff Writer

Who Really Runs The World: A Look At Secret Societies

Who really runs the world today? There are so many different secret societies and conspiracy theories that it’s difficult to tell. What follows is a handy guide to ten sinister international organizations suspected of running the world and an assessment of whether or not they could actually do so.

THE ILLUMINATI

Founded in Bavaria in 1776 by Enlightenment-era legal scholar Adam Weishaupt, the Illuminati was a society of European free thinkers and philosophers committed to the elimination of prejudice, theocracy, government oppression, and

discrimination against women.
According to dedicated freedom activists like the King of France and the Tsar of All the Russias, these goals were merely a front for the group’s real purpose of being evil and doing evil stuff all the time.

The group's symbol is on that dollar bill in your pocket right now. Most believe the reverse side of the Great Seal of the United States that appears on the dollar bill to contain the Latin phrases, "He [God] has favored our undertakings." and "New order of the ages." But others believe signs of the Illuminati are buried within the Great Seal's pyramid, including the year the group formed (MDCCLXXVI or 1776), while translating "Novus ordo seclorum" to mean "New World Order."

THREAT LEVEL: Low. The original Illuminati was forcibly disbanded in 1785 and successor organizations are still squabbling over the rights to the official Illuminati brand. Those looking for the most powerful version of the “new” Illuminati to join should probably go for whichever one it is that Jay-Z and Beyonce belong to