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.

COPD becomes third leading cause of death in the U.S.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) released a report today, "Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2008," confirming that Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) became the third leading cause of death in the U.S. for 2008.

10 Dec 2010

Exposure to tobacco smoke causes immediate damage leading to serious illness or death

Exposure to tobacco smoke - even occasional smoking or secondhand smoke - causes immediate damage to your body that can lead to serious illness or death, according to a report released today by U.S. Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin. The comprehensive scientific report - Benjamin's first Surgeon General's report and the 30th tobacco-related Surgeon General's report issued since 1964 - describes specific pathways by which tobacco smoke damages the human body and leads to disease and death.

10 Dec 2010

VCP gene causes some instances of familial ALS: Researchers

Using a new gene sequencing method, a team of researchers led by scientists from Johns Hopkins and the National Institutes of Health has discovered a gene that appears to cause some instances of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The finding could lead to novel ways to treat the more common form of this fatal neurodegenerative disease, which kills the vast majority of the nearly 6,000 Americans diagnosed with ALS every year.

10 Dec 2010

Warfarin may not be beneficial to some patients with atrial fibrillation: Researchers

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati and Massachusetts General Hospital have found that warfarin, a known anticoagulation (blood-thinning) drug, may not be as beneficial to some patients with atrial fibrillation as previously thought.

9 Dec 2010

The Joint Commission names AMC as Certified Primary Stroke Center

Adventist Medical Center, a nonprofit, 302-bed acute care hospital in southeast Portland, Ore., has been named a Certified Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission. This distinction means AMC offers fast and effective stroke care, and has a commitment to continuing education and improvement to issues connected with stroke.

9 Dec 2010

Researchers to study effect of resveratrol on impaired IGT in older prediabetic patients

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have been awarded $600,000 from the American Diabetes Association to study the effect of resveratrol, a chemical compound most notably found in red wine and grapes, on impaired glucose tolerance in older adults.

9 Dec 2010

Nottingham researchers develop new 'score' to detect heart disease in younger people

Experts at The University of Nottingham have developed a new 'score' to help GPs detect heart disease in younger people - before it damages their health.

9 Dec 2010

New technique jumpstarts growth of nerve fibers to reverse stroke damage

A new technique that jumpstarts the growth of nerve fibers could reverse much of the damage caused by strokes, researchers report in the Jan. 7, 2011 issue of the journal Stroke.

9 Dec 2010

Low-cost protein gets big results in people with elevated blood pressure

Beverages supplemented by whey-based protein can significantly reduce elevated blood pressure, reducing the risk of stroke and heart disease, a Washington State University study has found.

8 Dec 2010

FDA clears Valeritas' V-Go Disposable Insulin Delivery Device

Valeritas, Inc., a medical technology company committed to the development and commercialization of innovative drug delivery solutions, announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration has cleared the company's V-Go Disposable Insulin Delivery Device for the continuous subcutaneous delivery of insulin in preset basal rates and with on-demand bolus dosing for adult patients requiring insulin.

8 Dec 2010

Dobkin's technique delays brain damage in heart attack victims

After a heart attack and the victim stops breathing, a process of irreversible brain damage starts to occur within 3 to 4 minutes. Or does it?

8 Dec 2010

Exertional heat-related injuries also occur during everyday activities

A new study conducted by researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital examined exertional heat-related injuries that were treated in emergency departments between 1997 and 2006. Exertional heat-related injuries are injuries that occur as a result of exercise or physical activity during warm or hot temperatures.

8 Dec 2010

Overeating and drinking at holiday parties could affect those unaware of type 2 diabetes

For most people, overeating and drinking at holiday parties will just result in weight gain. However, for millions of others who do not know they have type 2 diabetes, it could mean something much more serious.

8 Dec 2010

AHNPs may serve as effective treatment for epilepsy and other disorders with altered neuronal circuitry

Epilepsy research is reaching beyond improving the means for quelling symptoms to the exploration of potential modalities for correcting or reversing alterations in neural function that underlay some forms of the disorder.

8 Dec 2010

UC researchers launch clinical trial to study post-stroke brain injury

The largest clinical trial of therapeutic brain cooling after stroke has launched, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. This study looks at whether hypothermia can safely be used in elderly stroke patients.

8 Dec 2010

New website provides guidelines to optimal stroke care

The 2010 Canadian Best Practice Recommendations for Stroke Care emphasize the need to prevent stroke patients from falling through the cracks as they move from the ER to in-hospital care to rehabilitation therapy and back to the community. The recommendations were released today by the Canadian Stroke Network and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

8 Dec 2010

Reduced salt intake prevents serious threats in diabetic patients

For patients living with diabetes, reducing the amount of salt in their daily diet is key to warding off serious threats to their health, a new review of studies finds.

8 Dec 2010

New technique may help develop novel treatments for brain diseases

Scientists have created a way to isolate neural stem cells - cells that give rise to all the cell types of the brain - from human brain tissue with unprecedented precision, an important step toward developing new treatments for conditions of the nervous system, like Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases and spinal cord injury.

8 Dec 2010

Proactive therapies may prove to avert stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation

One evening last March, Larry Ambrose left his bed in the middle of the night to check the time. Much to the 71-year-old's surprise, he was only able to see three out of the four glowing numbers on the digital clock in his kitchen. Ambrose returned to bed, but within days was hospitalized for what was later diagnosed as a stroke. After extensive testing, his physicians told him they could not determine the cause.

8 Dec 2010

Contrave, new weight loss pill gets FDA panel nod

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel yesterday recommended the approval of Orexigen Therapeutics’ weight loss drug Contrave. This is the first time a weight loss drug has received the nod. The vote went 13 to 7 for Contrave’s approval and 11 to 8, with an abstention that additional studies be conducted on heart risks. Although experts agree to risks they believe the benefits outweigh the risks. Although the FDA is not compelled to go with the panel’s recommendation, it more often than not does. The FDA will deliver its verdict by Jan. 31 2011.

7 Dec 2010