Stroke patients over 65 years old are likely to suffer arrhythmia, which could be critical, professor Kim Yong-jae of Ewha Womans University Medical Center said Tuesday.

Kim and his team studied a total of 869 people who were hospitalized last year to treat cerebral infarction, caused by a disturbance in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain. He found that 198 of them had arrhythmia, or an irregular heart beat. The older the patients were, the more likely they had the heart disorder, Kim said.

“Aging, hypertension and heart diseases are more likely to trigger arrhythmia. I am concerned that the portion of patients could rise to 50 percent in the near future,” Kim said.

“People who have had a stroke before or those who suddenly feel an irregular heart beat or dizziness should visit their doctors immediately. Elderly people with arrhythmia have five times as high a risk of suffering a stroke.”

(baejisook@heraldcorp.com)