Stroke News and Research

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A stroke is a medical emergency. Strokes happen when blood flow to your brain stops. Within minutes, brain cells begin to die. There are two kinds of stroke. The more common kind, called ischemic stroke, is caused by a blood clot that blocks or plugs a blood vessel in the brain. The other kind, called hemorrhagic stroke, is caused by a blood vessel that breaks and bleeds into the brain. "Mini-strokes" or transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), occur when the blood supply to the brain is briefly interrupted.

Study finds low public awareness of atrial fibrillation

In a Research and Practice in Thrombosis and Haemostasis study that surveyed the general public in 10 countries, only 48% of people were aware of atrial fibrillation (AF), which is lower than the awareness of other common diseases.

27 Oct 2017

New study sheds light on normal function of Parkinson's gene

A new study published in the journal Neuron sheds light on the normal function of LRRK2, the most common genetic cause for late-onset Parkinson's disease. The study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health.

26 Oct 2017

Healthy heart may protect older adults from disability

A healthy heart is important to the well-being of older adults. The American Heart Association (AHA) defines "ideal cardiovascular health" based on four health behaviors (current smoking, body mass index, physical activity, and healthy diet and three health factors (total cholesterol, blood pressure), and fasting blood glucose level).

26 Oct 2017

Studies highlight need for national strategy to prevent, treat hypertension in China

More than one in three adults aged 35 - 75 years in China have high blood pressure, but only about one in 20 people with hypertension have the condition under control, according to the largest study of hypertension in China, involving 1.7 million people, published in The Lancet.

26 Oct 2017

JGU researchers develop new technique to facilitate differentiation of stem cells into neurons

Very little is still known about how neurons can be generated from stem cells. Researchers at the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have now developed a promising technique that will facilitate the differentiation of stem cells into neurons. This even enables them to accelerate the maturation process.

26 Oct 2017

UCLA researchers precisely stimulate the brain to enhance recollection of distinct memories

Neuroscientists at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have discovered precisely where and how to electrically stimulate the human brain to enhance people's recollection of distinct memories. People with epilepsy who received low-current electrical pulses showed a significant improvement in their ability to recognize specific faces and ignore similar ones.

25 Oct 2017

Skin plays role in helping regulate blood pressure and heart rate, say scientists

Skin plays a surprising role in helping regulate blood pressure and heart rate, according to scientists at the University of Cambridge and the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. While this discovery was made in mice, the researchers believe it is likely to be true also in humans.

25 Oct 2017

Adopting healthy diet can help reverse risk of high triglycerides, despite genetic predisposition

Triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood, are important for good health. But having high triglycerides might increase a person's risk of heart disease, and may be a sign of metabolic syndrome--a combination of high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and too much fat accumulation at the waist.

25 Oct 2017

Researchers discover mechanism that corrects protein misfolding in plants

Various human nervous system diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases, are associated with the same basic disorder: the loss of nerve cells capacity to fold their proteins correctly, which causes protein aggregations that form "clumps" that end up generating the cell death.

25 Oct 2017

Mysterious DNA modification appears more in the brain under stress

With advances in genomics, scientists are discovering additional components of the DNA alphabet in animals. Do these unusual chemical modifications of DNA have a special meaning, or are they just signs that cellular machines are making mistakes?

24 Oct 2017

Rebound hyperthermia linked to worse neurologic outcomes, mortality in survivors of cardiac arrest

Rebound hyperthermia, or fever, is common after controlled body cooling to treat comatose survivors of cardiac arrest, but a new study presents evidence of significantly worse neurologic outcomes.

24 Oct 2017

Physical and emotional benefits of exercise

You have probably heard that exercise is good for your health, but did you know that it can actually help to heal your body? Understanding the value of exercise is more important than ever since our nation is in the midst of an "inactivity epidemic."

23 Oct 2017

Blood levels of thyroid hormone may help identify individuals at risk for irregular heartbeat

Individuals with higher levels of thyroid hormone (free thyroxine, FT4) circulating in the blood were more likely than individuals with lower levels to develop irregular heartbeat, or atrial fibrillation, even when the levels were within normal range, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation.

23 Oct 2017

African Americans have shorter lifespan because of heart disease and stroke

The average lifespan of African Americans is significantly shorter than white Americans, mostly because of heart disease and stroke, which contributed to more than two million years of life lost among African Americans between 1999 and 2010, according to a new scientific statement published in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation.

23 Oct 2017

NAFLD linked to higher cardiovascular risk in women, but not in men

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with significantly higher risk of subsequent cardiovascular events in women, but not in men, according to research presented this week at The Liver Meeting - held by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

20 Oct 2017

New report highlights global burden of pollution-related disease and death

Pollution is linked to an estimated nine million deaths each year worldwide – equivalent to one in six (16%) of all deaths, according to a major new report in The Lancet.

20 Oct 2017

T1DM weakens autonomic reflex that regulates blood pressure during exercise, study finds

A new study finds that late-stage type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) weakens the autonomic reflex that regulates blood pressure during exercise, impairing circulation, nerve function and exercise tolerance. The study is published in the American Journal of Physiology - Heart and Circulatory Physiology.

19 Oct 2017