CAN you catch a stroke? Sometimes, is the answer according to the largest study to date.
Infection with bacteria such as Chlamydia pneumoniae has already been linked with heart disease (New Scientist, 31 March 2001, p 18). Such infections may trigger inflammation that leads to plaque formation in the arteries, or atherosclerosis.
There is no conclusive evidence of a link between C. pneumoniae and strokes. But most previous studies relied on finding antibodies of a type known as IgG, which are not good markers for active infection as they persist for decades.
Mitchell Elkind’s team at Columbia University in…
