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.

Exercise slows down cognitive decline in older adults

Exercise in older people is associated with a slower rate of decline in thinking skills that occurs with aging. People who reported light to no exercise experienced a decline equal to 10 more years of aging as compared to people who reported moderate to intense exercise, according to a population-based observational study published in the March 23, 2016, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

24 Mar 2016

Guardian system can predict risk of dangerous diseases

If an infectious disease outbreak or an attack using an agent such as anthrax were to occur in Chicago, it most likely first will be noticed in emergency rooms throughout the city. Swift identification of the cause of an incoming patients' illness could be crucial to public health and safety personnel being able to intervene in time to save lives.

23 Mar 2016

Researchers develop unique approach to track, label neural stem cells

An overwhelming number of researchers still struggle within the black hole of the effectiveness and safety of stem cell therapy for neurological diseases. While the complexity of understanding how neurons grow, connect and function has long been studied, it remains a mystery, one that graduate student Forrest Goodfellow in the University of Georgia Regenerative Bioscience Center is helping unravel.

22 Mar 2016

Stress management can cut risk of another heart attack by half

Patients recovering from heart attacks or other heart trouble could cut their risk of another heart incident by half if they incorporate stress management into their treatment, according to research from Duke Health.

22 Mar 2016

IUPUI investigators use stem cells to identify potential therapies to prevent glaucoma

Using stem cells derived from human skin cells, researchers led by Jason Meyer, assistant professor of biology, along with graduate student Sarah Ohlemacher of the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, have successfully demonstrated the ability to turn stem cells into retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the neurons that conduct visual information from the eye to the brain.

21 Mar 2016

New type of nerve cells appears to control feeding behaviors in mice

While researching the brain's learning and memory system, scientists at Johns Hopkins say they stumbled upon a new type of nerve cell that seems to control feeding behaviors in mice. The finding, they report, adds significant detail to the way brains tell animals when to stop eating and, if confirmed in humans, could lead to new tools for fighting obesity. Details of the study will be published by the journal Science on March 18.

20 Mar 2016

Innovative treatment may help prevent brain swelling, death in stroke patients

New research has provided more evidence that an innovative treatment strategy may help prevent brain swelling and death in stroke patients. J. Marc Simard, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, along with colleagues at Yale University and Massachusetts General Hospital, found that Cirara, an investigational drug, powerfully reduced brain swelling and death in patients who had suffered a type of large stroke called malignant infarction, which normally carries a high mortality rate.

19 Mar 2016

Manipulation of NAD could lead to potential therapy for acute kidney injury

Approximately one out of five hospitalized adults and one out of three hospitalized children worldwide experience acute kidney injury, the sudden loss of kidney function. Many different factors, including surgery, chemotherapy or shock, can lead to acute kidney injury, but exactly why the kidneys are so vulnerable to these and other stressors has not been well understood.

19 Mar 2016

Transcranial direct current stimulation assists chronic stroke rehabilitation

Adding ipsilesional anodal transcranial direct current stimulation to upper limb rehabilitation delivers motor improvements in chronic stroke patients that last for at least 3 months, a randomised trial shows.

18 Mar 2016

New 3D micro-scaffold technology promotes reprogramming of stem cells into neurons

National Institutes of Health-funded scientists have developed a 3D micro-scaffold technology that promotes reprogramming of stem cells into neurons, and supports growth of neuronal connections capable of transmitting electrical signals.

18 Mar 2016

Vascular events in CML may not be linked to TKI therapy

The increased risk of vascular events observed among elderly patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia, compared with patients without cancer, may not be driven by tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, US researchers suggest.

17 Mar 2016

Researchers find major gap in treatment for AF patients at higher risk for stroke

Nearly half of all atrial fibrillation (AF) patients at the highest risk for stroke are not being prescribed blood thinners by their cardiologists, according to a new study by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and University of California, San Francisco.

17 Mar 2016

WSU researcher explores new drugs to treat neurological disorders linked to autophagic dysfunction

Repairing the brain's "house-cleaning function," which could help people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 100 other diseases, is the focus of recently funded research at Washington State University.

17 Mar 2016

AliveCor's new Kardia Band for Apple Watch allows people to capture medical-grade EKG anytime, anywhere

AliveCor, Inc., the leader in FDA-cleared electrocardiogram (EKG) technology for mobile devices, announced today the introduction of the first medical-grade EKG band for the Apple Watch, Kardia Band (pending 510k clearance, available in late spring) along with a new app for smartphones (available now).

17 Mar 2016

Austerity measures increase mortality rates in elderly pensioners

Rising mortality rates among pensioners aged 85 and over are linked to reductions in spending on income support for poorer pensioners, suggests new research published today by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

17 Mar 2016

Innovative smart vest developed to help monitor health of construction workers

Heat stress is a growing safety concern in the building industry and now an innovative smart vest has been developed to monitor the health of construction workers in real time.

17 Mar 2016

Oral contraceptives increase rare stroke risk in obese women

Researchers have found that obese women taking oral contraceptives have an increased risk of cerebral venous thrombosis and should be educated about this risk accordingly.

16 Mar 2016

Researchers identify important role of sleep in stroke care, rehabilitation

Researchers identify sleep as a problem in patients with stroke, and highlight the need to give greater consideration to sleep in stroke care, and in particular stroke rehabilitation.

15 Mar 2016

Real-time imaging method may lead to improved stroke care

According to the American Heart Association, ischemic strokes account for nearly 90 percent of all strokes. They occur when a blocked artery prevents blood from getting to the brain and usually result in long-term disability or death. Now, a team of researchers led by the University of Missouri School of Medicine has developed a new, real-time method of imaging molecular events after strokes - a finding that may lead to improved care for patients.

15 Mar 2016

Researchers report outcomes of dipyridamole drug in treating pterygium and related dry-eye symptoms

At the Israeli Society for Vision and Eye Research conference on March 10, the MedInsight Research Institute and Center for Drug Repurposing at Ariel University presented the latest findings on positive user-reported outcomes of the repurposed drug dipyridamole in treating pterygium and related dry-eye symptoms.

15 Mar 2016