- I think what the authors probably knew ahead of doing this analysis is that blood type might be related to blood clotting and platelet function and the risk of vascular events. And so using the genetic information that they had in their database was a very powerful tool, and they could specifically identify the blood types and do their analysis accordingly. And so the fact that non-O blood type is associated with an increased risk of stroke in women who use oral contraceptives and smoke is really very interesting. And I would imagine that this could lead to more research in this field just to better understand, especially in young people and young women in particular, why strokes are happening at a younger age. And maybe this is another piece of the puzzle that we just have not really investigated enough in the past.