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.

Pig out once and you could damage your arteries!

Australian researchers say that just one meal which is high in saturated fat can affect the arteries and stop the body from protecting itself against heart disease and stroke.

9 Aug 2006

Vision: stimulating your attention

Researchers have developed a new method for boosting brain function that may have implications for treatments of brain disorders and for improving vision.

8 Aug 2006

Prospective Huntington At Risk Observational Study

Doctors have completed the first step of a unique medical research study, evaluating 1,001 individuals at risk of developing Huntington's disease who do not know - nor do they want to know - whether they carry the genetic defect that causes the condition.

8 Aug 2006

Just one meal high in saturated fat can reduce the ability of the body's "good" cholesterol

Before you bite into that burger or devour that doughnut, first chew on this: New research shows that just one meal high in saturated fat can affect the body's ability to protect itself against some of the underlying causes of heart disease and stroke.

8 Aug 2006

New way of delivering corrective genes holds promise for hereditary diseases of the heart

A new way of delivering corrective genes with a single injection into a vein holds promise for long-lasting treatments of hereditary diseases of the heart, University of Florida researchers report.

6 Aug 2006

Tocotrienol - a potent neuroprotective agent

Two recent studies offer new evidence suggesting an alternative form of natural vitamin E can be taken by mouth and will reach the blood in humans at levels determined to protect against stroke and other diseases.

6 Aug 2006

How the body controls brain temperature: the temperature shielding effect of cerebral blood flow

Attempts to cool the brain to reduce injury from stroke and other head trauma may face a significant obstacle: current cooling devices can't penetrate very deeply into the brain.

4 Aug 2006

Sleep apnea raises risk of ischemic stroke in elderly

Elderly people with severe sleep apnea have more than two times the risk of ischemic stroke than elderly people with no or mild apnea, according to research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

3 Aug 2006

Researchers discover amazing properties of fibrin fibers

The tiny fibers that comprise blood clots show extraordinary elasticity, on average stretching to almost three times their length while still retaining their ability to go back to their normal shape and expanding to more than four times their length before breaking.

3 Aug 2006

Older patients with atrial fibrillation have higher rates of major hemorrhage in the brain

Older patients with atrial fibrillation have higher rates of major hemorrhage in the brain whether or not they are using a common blood thinning therapy, according to a new study.

3 Aug 2006

Guidelines on atrial fibrillation recommend new approach

Risk factors for stroke should be used to determine whether anti-clotting therapy is given to people with an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation (AF), according to revised Guidelines for the Management of Patients with Atrial Fibrillation.

2 Aug 2006

Likelihood of hemorrhage on warfarin is relatively small

Older patients with atrial fibrillation have higher rates of major hemorrhage in the brain whether or not they are using a common blood thinning therapy, according to a new study.

2 Aug 2006

Strong link between specific genetic variations and an increased risk of stroke in younger women

University of Maryland researchers have shown a strong association between specific genetic variations and an increased risk of stroke in younger women, adding to the growing evidence of possible genetic influences in stroke.

2 Aug 2006

High blood pressure linked with a decline in walking ability in later life

Decline in lower limb function is common in older people, and worsening gait is associated with increased risk of dementia and death. However, factors contributing to gait difficulties in older persons are not well understood.

2 Aug 2006

Anti-obesity vaccine keeps rats trim

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California in the U.S. have developed an anti-obesity vaccine that significantly slowed weight gain and reduced body fat in rats even when they over ate.

1 Aug 2006

Omega-3 fatty acids in the news again

Fish is in the news again as some researchers are claiming that the fatty acids which are found in fish, can help people burn off the kilos, while another team say it improves learning and memory in young children.

31 Jul 2006

Vegan diet best for diabetes

Researchers have found that people who followed a low-fat vegan diet, cutting out all meat and dairy, lowered their blood sugar more and lost more weight than people on an American Diabetes Association diet.

30 Jul 2006

COX-2 inhibitors prescribed to reduce gastrointestinal toxicity prior to the market withdrawals

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been the most popular treatment for arthritis - despite their association with gastrointestinal (GI) complications, including bleeding ulcers and death.

27 Jul 2006

Increasing rates of diabetes among U.S. adults

Adults in the United States have increasingly become overweight or obese in recent years, according to a national survey conducted for Indiana University, dispelling the notion of a plateau and injecting a note of urgency into efforts to help Americans achieve a healthier weight.

26 Jul 2006

Is there improvement of 'vascular depression' after carotid artery stenting?

Inserting a stent to open a narrowed carotid artery has been found to reduce symptoms of depression that may be associated with carotid stenosis, according to a study in the August issue of Radiology.

25 Jul 2006