Chief investigator, Professor David Werring (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology), explains: “There are concerns that starting anticoagulants too early might increase the risk of bleeding into the area of the brain damaged by the stroke – especially in people with more severe strokes.
They have concluded it’s safe and effective to give blood-thinning treatments (anticoagulants) to AF stroke patients within four days of them having a stroke, rather than waiting for up to 14 days as previously recommended.
More than 1.6 million people in the UK have AF – and they’re five times more likely to have a stroke than people without it.
As a result she developed a clot, as people with AF will, hence the stroke.
This clot may travel to the brain, blocking its blood supply and causing a stroke.
