Kim JY, et al. - In patients diagnosed with Bell palsy, researchers assessed the risk of cardio-cerebrovascular disease, like ischemic stroke and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). From the Korea National Health Insurance Service, the National Sample Cohort 2002 to 2013 data were used. All patients diagnosed with Bell palsy (n = 730) were included in the Bell palsy group. The comparison group consisted of randomly chosen patients using matching propensity score (n = 1,460). During the 12-year follow-up period, ischemic stroke developed in 15.7% of Bell palsy patients and 9% of patients in the comparison group of the total study population. According to this population-based follow-up study, Bell palsy is associated with increased ischemic stroke incidence. Findings suggested that Bell palsy can be used as an indicator of increased risk of stroke, and simultaneous treatment with antiviral agents and steroids can be effective in preventing ischemic stroke. No significant link was found between Bell palsy and risk of AMI development.