Researchers from Royal Holloway, together with an international team from across the United States and Europe, have found that people with a specific variant of a gene, known as PHACTR1, are at reduced risk of suffering cervical artery dissection, which is caused by a tear in an artery that leads to the brain.
Cervical artery dissection is relatively uncommon in the general population but is one of the major causes of stroke in young adults. The disease is caused by a tear in a brain supplying artery that can lead to compression of adjacent nerves and to blood clotting, potentially causing blockage of vessels and brain damage.
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