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 link between severe sepsis and chronic diseases

It's a major cause of death, yet few of us have ever heard of it. Sepsis occurs when a patient's immune system overreacts to an infection, triggering a potentially fatal, system-wide inflammation. Severe sepsis strikes about 750,000 Americans each year, most of them older and often ill, with as many as half of these patients dying as septic shock shuts down their organs. Furthermore, patients in many Southern states are about twice as likely to develop sepsis for reasons unknown.

1 Nov 2012

Blocking hyaluronidase activity can help repair brain damage associated with MS

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered that blocking a certain enzyme in the brain can help repair the brain damage associated with multiple sclerosis and a range of other neurological disorders.

1 Nov 2012

Ischemic stroke: an interview with Dr Gregory Ford

A stroke is a sudden interruption of blood flow to the brain which deprives the brain of oxygen and nutrients. Approximately two millions brain cells die each minute during a stroke. This can lead to brain damage, physical and mental disability and death.

1 Nov 2012

Proposing standards and guidelines for Rett syndrome research

There is an urgent need for new drugs to treat Rett syndrome, a rare and severe neurological disease mainly affecting girls. A bottleneck in drug development for this syndrome is a lack of clarity at the level of preclinical research. Key researchers in this field now tackle this issue, proposing standards and guidelines for Rett syndrome research, in an Open Access review article published on Oct. 31, 2012 in Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM).

1 Nov 2012

Study finds how effective healthcare can reduce toll from major diseases like stroke, cancer

Wide differences in death rates from disease still persist throughout England - but effective healthcare can help to reduce these inequalities, a new study has discovered.

1 Nov 2012

Single dose of etanercept can improve chronic neurological dysfunction from stroke or TBI

A new ground-breaking study about to be published in the Adis journal CNS Drugs provides clinical evidence that, for the first time, chronic neurological dysfunction from stroke or traumatic brain injury can rapidly improve following a single dose of a drug that targets brain inflammation, even years after the stroke or traumatic event.

1 Nov 2012

Affordable Medicines Facility improves access to anti-malarials

The Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria has resulted in significant improvements in the availability and price of quality-assured artemisinin-based combination therapies in seven African countries after 1 year, show study findings published in The Lancet.

31 Oct 2012

Hormone therapy increases risk of heart attack or dying in women with metabolic syndrome

A new analysis of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trials show that women who had metabolic syndrome before they started hormone therapy had a greatly increased risk of heart attack or dying of heart disease. Women who didn't have metabolic syndrome beforehand showed no increased risk.

31 Oct 2012

Oily fish consumption may reduce risk of stroke

Eating at least two servings of oily fish a week is moderately but significantly associated with a reduced risk of stroke, finds a study published on bmj.com today.

31 Oct 2012

Study finds that just 1 high-fat meal can affect your heart health

Eat a breakfast sandwich and your body will be feeling the ill effects well before lunch - now that's fast food!

31 Oct 2012

Unique bond between SAP102 and GluN2B enables learning and memory

Two proteins have a unique bond that enables brain receptors essential to learning and memory to not only get and stay where they're needed, but to be hauled off when they aren't, researchers say.

31 Oct 2012

FDA accepts Sunovion’s two LATUDA sNDAs for review

Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review two supplemental New Drug Applications (sNDAs) for the use of LATUDA as 1) monotherapy and 2) adjunctive therapy to lithium or valproate, both to treat adult patients with depressive episodes associated with bipolar I disorder (bipolar depression).

31 Oct 2012

Procalcitonin good marker of bacteremia in children with central lines

High procalcitonin levels are a good indicator of bacteremia in children with a central venous catheter who present to the emergency department with fever, suggest study findings.

30 Oct 2012

MRI gives clearer picture of COPD stroke risk

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients are at increased risk for carotid artery thickening, show the results of a study in elderly men.

30 Oct 2012

Research dispels myth that sudden cardiac death happens mainly during sports

It's a tragic news story that often makes headlines - a young, healthy, fit athlete suddenly collapses and dies of cardiac arrest while playing sports.

30 Oct 2012

Smoke-free legislation associated with fewer hospitalizations

Smoke-free legislation was associated with substantially fewer hospitalizations and deaths from heart and respiratory diseases, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

30 Oct 2012

Children with migraine more likely to have below average school performance

Children with migraine are more likely to have below average school performance than kids who do not have headaches, according to new research published in the October 30, 2012, print issue of Neurology-, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

30 Oct 2012

Study compares 'cardio-toxicity' of Toronto-area neighborhoods

Your chances of having a sudden cardiac arrest can depend on where you live, warned Dr. Paul Dorian today at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2012 in Toronto, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

30 Oct 2012

Canadian Cardiovascular Society issues new pediatric heart failure guidelines

The Canadian Cardiovascular Society is the first in Canada to issue guidelines aimed at helping primary care and emergency physicians, as well as specialists, recognize and manage heart failure in children. The guidelines were released today at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress.

30 Oct 2012