Determinants of visit-to-visit variability in blood pressure and the related risks of stroke and dementia.

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This study will involve patients following a TIA (‘mini-stroke‘) or small stroke who have undergone uniquely detailed monitoring of their blood pressure and imaging of their brains. It will aim to work out why some patients‘ blood pressure varies from day-to-day more than other patients, and why this results in a higher chance of having a stroke and of developing dementia. Patients will undergo non-invasive measurements of the stiffness and reactivity of their blood vessels at rest and to spontaneous and induced changes in blood pressure. These measures will be related to day-to-day and other types of variability in blood pressure, imaging of their brains, and the long-term risk of developing stroke or dementia. I have the unique opportunity to do this study as part of an ongoing programme of research in the Stroke Prevention Research Unit in Oxford, in collaboration with the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine. The results should increase our understand of variability in blood pressure - a major new risk factor for stroke and vascular dementia.