A study has found that patients with even minimally heightened blood pressure could be exposed to a similarly heightened risk of stroke.

Following analysis of more than half a million adults from a dozen separate studies into blood pressure and the chance of having a stroke, a team from America found that those with prehypertension were 50% more likely to have a stroke than people without the condition.

The team from San Diego`s University of California said that this risk was 80% higher among people aged below 65 and added that clinicians working in GP jobs might want to consider advising at-risk patients to cut salt levels and lose weight.

Other risk factors such as diabetes, obesity, tobacco intake and age and gender were all taken into consideration by researchers who published their findings in Neurology.

Dr Sharlin Ahmed, from The Stroke Association, said: "High blood pressure is the single biggest risk factor for stroke and it affects around 16 million people in the UK. However, 40% of all strokes could be prevented if people took steps to control their blood pressure."

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