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.

Researchers identify mechanism linked to brain damage

Researchers have discovered a mechanism linked to the brain damage often suffered by stroke victims--and are now searching for drugs to block it.

27 Nov 2014

55% of people with dementia have never seen a doctor, shows study

The majority of people with dementia have never seen a doctor about their memory and thinking problems, according to a new study published in the November 26, 2014, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

27 Nov 2014

Many older adults with memory problems and dementia go unscreened, untreated

Despite clear signs that their memory and thinking abilities have gone downhill, more than half of seniors with these symptoms haven't seen a doctor about them, a new study finds.

27 Nov 2014

CMU scientists use Harry Potter book to identify brain activity

Some people say that reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" taught them the importance of friends, or that easy decisions are seldom right. Carnegie Mellon University scientists used a chapter of that book to learn a different lesson: identifying what different regions of the brain are doing when people read.

27 Nov 2014

Innovative collar for MND patients to be showcased at NHS Innovation Challenge Prizes

MEDICAL technology designers are to pitch a new contoured support snood helping to improve the quality of lives of motor neurone disease sufferers whose neck muscles have weakened to a panel of Dragons’ Den style judges as part of a £10,000 innovation challenge.

27 Nov 2014

Research may provide useful applications for care of stroke patients

Using world-leading research methods, the team of Dr David Wright and Prof Paul Holmes, working with Dr Jacqueline Williams from the Victoria University in Melbourne, studied activity in an area of the brain responsible for controlling movements when healthy participants observed a video showing simple hand movements and simultaneously imagined that they were performing the observed movement.

27 Nov 2014

Researchers uncover easily detectable, 'pre-malignant' state in the blood

Researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard-affiliated hospitals have uncovered an easily detectable, "pre-malignant" state in the blood that significantly increases the likelihood that an individual will go on to develop blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, or myelodysplastic syndrome.

27 Nov 2014

Researchers discover two common genetic variants associated with memory performance

In the largest study of the genetics of memory ever undertaken, an international researcher team including scientists from Boston University School of Medicine, have discovered two common genetic variants that are believed to be associated with memory performance.

25 Nov 2014

VeraVia releases information to help men achieve better weight loss strategy

A recent study published in the British Journal of General Practice found that physicians have difficulty visually diagnosing obesity in men. San Diego fitness retreat VeraVia has released information for men to help them understand how their own weight loss differs from women. VeraVia founder and CEO Wyatt Chapman says, "Achieving the best weight loss strategy for your body and lifestyle can be complicated.

25 Nov 2014

ProMedica invests in early stage medical device company

ProMedica has invested in an early stage medical device company that is developing and commercializing innovative and cost-effective devices for treating common vascular diseases such as peripheral artery disease (PAD). Jobst Vascular Surgeon John Pigott, MD, founded the Sylvania-based company, VentureMed Group, and its first invention is already being used in clinical trials underway in Europe.

25 Nov 2014

Ohio State researchers study repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for stroke rehabilitation

Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are trying to help patients who have suffered a stroke to improve arm movement by stimulating the brain using a device called a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator (TMS). By using TMS to reduce brain activity on the side that was not injured by the stroke, the injured side may have a better chance of recovering.

25 Nov 2014

Research findings could provide insight into how doctors could restore human memory

UCLA neurophysicists have found that space-mapping neurons in the brain react differently to virtual reality than they do to real-world environments. Their findings could be significant for people who use virtual reality for gaming, military, commercial, scientific or other purposes.

25 Nov 2014

People with sleep apnea have lower peak oxygen uptake during aerobic activity

People with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea may have an intrinsic inability to burn high amounts of oxygen during strenuous aerobic exercise, according to a new study led by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

24 Nov 2014

Raising awareness of sickle cell disease risks

Members of the public in sub-Saharan Africa who are carriers of the hereditary disease sickle cell disease must be educated aggressively through public health campaigns to raise awareness of the risks of parenting offspring with the disease if their partner is also a carrier, according to research published in the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics.

24 Nov 2014

Researchers say that promoting healthy gut microbiota can help treat metabolic syndrome

Promoting healthy gut microbiota, the bacteria that live in the intestine, can help treat or prevent metabolic syndrome, a combination of risk factors that increases a person's risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke, according to researchers at Georgia State University and Cornell University.

24 Nov 2014

Hydroxyurea therapy offers safe, effective disease management of SCA

Conclusive data show that hydroxyurea therapy offers safe and effective disease management of sickle cell anemia (SCA) and reduces the risk of stroke, prompting early termination by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of a key clinical trial studying the drug's efficacy.

23 Nov 2014

Snus consumption in Norway is highest among young people

The increase in Scandinavian snus consumption in Norway is highest among young people, according to a new report from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

21 Nov 2014

Study shows blood pressure medication is not linked to breast cancer

Women who take a common type of medication to control their blood pressure are not at increased risk of developing breast cancer due to the drug, according to new study by researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray, Utah.

21 Nov 2014

People who handle complex jobs may have longer-lasting memory and thinking abilities

People whose jobs require more complex work with other people, such as social workers and lawyers, or with data, like architects or graphic designers, may end up having longer-lasting memory and thinking abilities compared to people who do less complex work, according to research published in the November 19, 2014, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

20 Nov 2014

Changes in one gene can influence person's cholesterol levels from midlife through late life

It's known that cholesterol levels typically rise as people age and that high cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. What's less known is that cholesterol levels begin to decline the more a person ages. Recently, researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and the University of Kentucky found that differences in one gene can influence a person's cholesterol levels from midlife to late life.

19 Nov 2014