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.

Gastric bypass surgery and effect on lower back pain

The prevalence of both obesity and back pain in developing nations has reached alarming levels. According to recent statistics, more than one-third of U.S. adults - over 72 million people were obese in 2005-2006. Of these, 33.3 percent were men and 35.3 percent were women. Especially alarming is that obesity has not decreased among teenagers - the rates remain essentially unchanged in 2005-2006 from the 2003-2004 estimates, at 17 percent.

29 Apr 2008

Hormone therapy in postmenopausal women associated with increased risk of stroke

Postmenopausal women taking hormone therapy appear to have an increased risk of stroke regardless of when they started treatment, according to a report in the April 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

28 Apr 2008

Scientists discover way to increase metabolism for weight loss

Scientists from Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have discovered a way to aid weight loss and reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes by manipulating fat cells to increase the body's metabolism.

28 Apr 2008

Lower wealth, education and income associated with increased stroke up to age 65

Higher wealth is linked with a lower risk of stroke in Americans between the ages of 50 and 64, but does not predict strokes in those over age 65, researchers reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

24 Apr 2008

Clearer understanding of how neurons give rise to motor behaviors

When the eye tracks a bird's flight across the sky, the visual experience is normally smooth, without interruption. But underlying this behavior is a complex coordination of neurons that has remained mysterious to scientists. Now, UCSF researchers have broken ground in understanding how the brain generates this tracking motion, a finding that offers a window, they say, into how neurons orchestrate all of the body's movements.

24 Apr 2008

New 3-D ultrasound provides clear images of the major arteries within the brain

Using 3-D ultrasound technology they designed, Duke University bioengineers can compensate for the thickness and unevenness of the skull to see in real-time the arteries within the brain that most often clog up and cause strokes.

24 Apr 2008

Metabolic genes tied to inflammatory predictor of heart disease and stroke risk

Two new studies provide evidence that differences in people's blood levels of C reactive protein (CRP) stem in part from natural variation in known metabolic genes. The researchers report their findings in the May American Journal of Human Genetics, a publication of Cell Press.

24 Apr 2008

Former Bristol-Myers Squibb exec indicted for lying about Plavix blood-thinning drug

The Department of Justice announced today that the former senior vice president of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS), Andrew Bodnar, was indicted for his role in lying to the federal government about a patent deal involving the popular blood-thinning drug, Plavix, used by heart attack, stroke and other patients.

23 Apr 2008

NIH study reveals incidence, precursors and psychiatric sequelae of major psychiatric disorders

A new study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) presents results on the first onset of substance use disorders (i.e., alcohol and drug abuse and dependence) and major mood and anxiety disorders, based on Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC).

22 Apr 2008

Still lack of knowledge regarding Medicare's Part D prescription drug program

There still appears to be some lack of knowledge regarding Medicare's Part D prescription drug program, although there is evidence that cost-related medication nonadherence may have improved overall, according to two studies in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

22 Apr 2008

An atomic view of protein behind hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathy

For the first time, researchers have peered deeply at the atomic level into the protein that causes hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) -- a disease thought to cause stroke and dementia.

22 Apr 2008

Number of HIV-positive state and federal inmates drops

Between 2005 and 2006 the number of state and federal prisoners who were HIV-positive decreased 3.1 percent -- from 22,676 to 21,980 inmates, according to a report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Another BJS report estimated that 44 percent of state inmates and 39 percent of federal inmates reported a current medical problem other than a cold or a virus.

22 Apr 2008

Stroke pilot study results to be announced at University of Leicester

Preliminary results from a major multi-centre UK pilot trial into Stroke are to be announced at the University of Leicester on 22 April.

21 Apr 2008

First comprehensive look at treatment practices for nonepileptic seizures

A new nationwide clinician survey provides the first comprehensive look at what is community care or 'treatment as usual' for nonepileptic seizures (NES), laying the groundwork for clinical trials aimed at identifying effective treatments for this neuropsychiatric disorder.

21 Apr 2008

Hypertension all about what you eat and drink

Scientific research on human metabolism based on people from around the world has revealed compounds in urine indicate surprising differences affecting blood pressure.

20 Apr 2008

Constraint induced therapy causes increase in gray matter

A rehabilitation therapy developed by a UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) neuroscientist produces changes in the structure of the brain, the first evidence of actual brain remodeling resulting from a rehabilitation therapy.

17 Apr 2008

Breastfeeding during anti-epilepsy drug treatment does not appear to harm a child's cognitive development

A first of its kind study finds breastfeeding while taking certain seizure medications does not appear to harm a child's cognitive development. The research will be presented at the upcoming American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12-19, 2008.

17 Apr 2008

Frequent migraines linked to women's risk of cardiovascular disease

New research shows women who have weekly migraine are significantly more likely to have a stroke than those with fewer migraines or no migraine at all, but those with lower migraine frequency may face increased risk of heart attacks.

17 Apr 2008

Measurement technology to investigate neurovascular coupling

Every two minutes in Germany, one person suffers a stroke. About one third of the affected do not survive the sudden lack of blood in the brain, many others are left with serious disabilities.

17 Apr 2008

Heavy drinkers and smokers develop Alzheimer's earlier

Heavy drinkers and heavy smokers develop Alzheimer's disease years earlier than people with Alzheimer's who do not drink or smoke heavily, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12-19, 2008.

17 Apr 2008