Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Gregory Health editor

Algorithm could help prevent thousands of strokes in UK each year

CT scan of brain showing ischemic or haemorrhagic stroke
A CT scan of a brain with stroke. Estimates suggest AF is a contributing factor in 20,000 strokes each year in the UK. Photograph: Puwadol Jaturawutthichai/Alamy

Thousands of strokes could be averted in the UK each year after doctors developed an algorithm that spots patients at risk by scanning millions of GP records.

The tool uses machine learning to scour medical data for red flags that could identify patients with undiagnosed atrial fibrillation (AF), a heart condition that significantly increases stroke risk.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.