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.

ONO-4641 reduces number of lesions in people with MS

An investigational oral drug called ONO-4641 reduced the number of lesions in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to the results of a phase two clinical trial to be presented as Emerging Science at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

17 Apr 2012

Study: 1 in 26 may develop epilepsy at some point in life

A landmark study from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports that your chance of developing epilepsy at some point in your life is one in 26. Onset is highest in children and older adults. But epilepsy knows no boundaries—it can strike at any age and across all socio-economic levels and ethnicities. There is no known cure and one-third of people with epilepsy have treatment-resistant or refractory epilepsy.

17 Apr 2012

High-fibre diet protects women from cardiovascular disease

Foods high in fibre provide good protection against cardiovascular disease, and the effect is particularly marked in women. This is shown in a new study from Lund University in Sweden.

17 Apr 2012

Decreasing GPA adherence among COX-2 users increases risk of upper GI complications

To relieve pain, arthritis sufferers are prescribed medications that may include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, both of which can irritate the digestive tract. At times additional drugs are co-prescribed with NSAIDs or COX-2 inhibitors to prevent adverse gastrointestinal (GI) effects.

16 Apr 2012

New drug to detect beta-amyloid plaques may help diagnose AD earlier

Use of a new drug to detect the beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that are hallmark signs of Alzheimer's disease may help doctors diagnose the disease earlier, according to research that will be presented as part of the Emerging Science program (formerly known as Late-Breaking Science) at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

16 Apr 2012

Neurological symptoms due to a bump on the head should not be ignored

When Dr. Irene Gatti de Leon slipped on the ice and bumped her head, she wasn't too concerned. But two months later, she began to experience weakness in her right leg and right arm while she and her husband were visiting their daughter in suburban Chicago.

16 Apr 2012

Changes in thromboxane synthase may lead to hypertension in women with preeclampsia

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered that changes in the gene expression of a key enzyme may contribute to high blood pressure and increase susceptibility to forming blood clots in pregnant women with preeclampsia.

16 Apr 2012

UVA engineer and biologist named recipients of Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards

University of Virginia engineer Silvia Salinas Blemker and biologist Christopher Deppmann have been named recipients of 2011 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards, which provide $100,000 in annual research support for three years to each awardee.

16 Apr 2012

Europe's largest hypertension conference to take place in London

Europe's largest hypertension conference, the 22nd Scientific Meeting of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) will take place in London, UK, from April 26 to 29, 2012.

16 Apr 2012

Newer antidepressant decreases depression in Parkinson's patients without worsening motor problems

Certain antidepressants appear to decrease depression in people with Parkinson's disease without worsening motor problems, according to a study published in the April 11, 2012, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

12 Apr 2012

AstraZeneca introduces DUTOPROL for hypertension

AstraZeneca today announced the availability of DUTOPROL (metoprolol succinate extended release/hydrochlorothiazide) Tablets, the first and only once-daily antihypertensive agent that contains the active ingredient of TOPROL-XL (metoprolol succinate) plus a low-dose diuretic that provides proven blood pressure lowering at 24 hours.

12 Apr 2012

Enrollment complete for Ampio's multiple indication diagnostic clinical trials

Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company that discovers and develops new uses for previously approved drugs and new molecular entities ("NMEs"), announced today that it has completed enrollment of patients for its multiple indication diagnostic clinical trials.

12 Apr 2012

Study sheds light on malleability of brain's recognition process

No matter what novel objects we come to behold, our brains effortlessly take us from an initial "What's that?" to "Oh, that old thing" after a few casual encounters. In research that helps shed light on the malleability of this recognition process, Brown University neuroscientists have teased apart the potentially different roles that two distinct cell types may play.

12 Apr 2012

Scientists discover mutation limited to brain tissue that causes HMG

Scientists have discovered a mutation limited to brain tissue that causes hemimegalencephaly (HMG), a condition where one half of the brain is enlarged and dysfunctional, leading to intellectual disability and severe epilepsy.

12 Apr 2012

Johns Hopkins cardiologists support use of statins for primary prevention of heart attack

Writing the first commentary for a new feature in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), called Viewpoint, Johns Hopkins cardiologists make the case for why a 55-year-old man with a 10 percent estimated risk of heart attack over the next 10 years should be offered statin medication. They were invited to debate a professor who argues against prescribing statins for "primary" prevention—for those who have not had a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack—even though they may be considered at "intermediate" risk because of elevated cholesterol or other factors.

12 Apr 2012

Four abstracts on spatial neglect to be presented at upcoming AAN meeting

Anna M. Barrett, MD will represent Kessler Foundation's Stroke Rehabilitation Research Laboratory at the upcoming American Academy of Neurology Conference at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, LA, April 21 - April 28.

12 Apr 2012

Preliminary results from GE Healthcare’s flutemetamol Phase 3 studies on AD

GE Healthcare today announced the preliminary results of two Phase 3 studies of its investigational PET amyloid imaging agent, [18F]flutemetamol, where both studies met their primary endpoints. One study, in terminally ill patients who agreed to undergo brain autopsy, showed strong concordance between flutemetamol PET images and Alzheimer's disease-associated beta amyloid brain pathology.

12 Apr 2012

Takeda enters definitive agreement to acquire URL Pharma

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and URL Pharma Inc. jointly announced that Takeda's wholly-owned subsidiary, Takeda America Holdings, Inc. and URL Pharma have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire URL Pharma – a privately-held pharmaceutical company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for an upfront payment of $800 million and future performance-based contingent earn out payments.

12 Apr 2012

TAVI improves heart function, exercise capacity in patients with aortic stenosis

German researchers report success with transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients with low-flow, low-gradient aortic stenosis-a special form of aortic stenosis that is difficult to treat. Results published in the April issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, the peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), show that while all-cause mortality was high within the first six months, TAVI significantly improved heart function and exercise capacity in surviving patients.

From Medtronic 11 Apr 2012

Scientists map physical architecture of intelligence in the brain

Scientists report that they have mapped the physical architecture of intelligence in the brain. Theirs is one of the largest and most comprehensive analyses so far of the brain structures vital to general intelligence and to specific aspects of intellectual functioning, such as verbal comprehension and working memory.

11 Apr 2012