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.

Tips for preventing heat-related illness

With "feels-like" temperatures approaching or exceeding 100 degrees forecast for parts of Pennsylvania this week, the Department of Health is reminding all Pennsylvanians of important steps they can take to protect their health.

20 Jul 2011

Texas Children's Hospital uses new surgical approach for treating epilepsy

Texas Children's Hospital is the first hospital in the world to use real-time MRI-guided thermal imaging and laser technology to destroy lesions in the brain that cause epilepsy and uncontrollable seizures.

19 Jul 2011

Insight into global incidence and prevalence of mild cognitive impairment

New research reported today in Paris at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2011 (AAIC 2011) offers insight on the global incidence and prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) – a condition involving problems with memory or another mental function severe enough to be noticeable to the affected person or to others but not serious enough to interfere with daily life.

19 Jul 2011

Anti-malaria drug provides key insight into potential treatments for autoimmune diseases

In a study published recently in the journal Science Signaling Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) scientists demonstrate on the molecular level how the anti-malaria drug chloroquine represses inflammation, which may provide a blueprint for new strategies for treating inflammation and a multitude of autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and certain cancers.

19 Jul 2011

Married men with heart attack seek help sooner: Study

A new study implies that married men tend to live longer than their unwed counterparts, they're more likely to see their doctor regularly, and they even have a lower risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke. The study shows that men who experience chest pains while having a heart attack tend to get to a hospital sooner if they're married or in a common-law relationship. A woman's marital status, by contrast, was not associated with how quickly she sought treatment after experiencing heart-attack-related chest pains, according to the study, which was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

19 Jul 2011

NSVascular signs exclusive license with UCLA for Thin-Film Nitinol technology

NeuroSigma, Inc., a Los Angeles-based medical device company, today announced the formation of a majority owned subsidiary, NSVascular, Inc. and the signing of an exclusive license with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) covering its medical applications of Thin-Film Nitinol (TFN) technology. Nitinol is a superelastic nickel and titanium alloy with unique properties that allow deformation and subsequent full recovery of the original shape upon exposure to body heat.

18 Jul 2011

Governors to focus on health exchanges' big picture

During the National Governors Association meeting on Saturday, "broad-stroke policy decisions" will be discussed — in terms of what states need to know to set up an exchange in the face of tight budgets. Meanwhile, a new AARP report concludes that consumers will have an easier time in these marketplaces if they don't have too many options.

16 Jul 2011

Six UC institutions to improve hospital care

A key component of health care reform involves the improvement of quality, access and value when delivering health services, particularly for patients admitted to a hospital. To help meet these needs, the University of California established the Center for Health Quality and Innovation, which provides financial support for health quality initiatives across the UC health system.

16 Jul 2011

Tips for swimmers to minimize risk of shoulder injury

Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise. It's easy on the joints and provides a terrific workout in terms of aerobic exercise and improving muscle strength.

16 Jul 2011

NSF announces $18.5M grant to establish new engineering research center

The National Science Foundation today announced an $18.5 million grant to establish an Engineering Research Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering based at the University of Washington.

15 Jul 2011

Neuralstem receives U.S. patent allowance for three new neurogenic compounds

Neuralstem, Inc. announced that it has received notice of allowance for U.S. Patent Applications 12/939,897 and 12/939,914 entitled: "Compositions to Effect Neuronal Growth."

15 Jul 2011

Simple dental algorithm can effectively identify patients with unrecognized diabetes

In a study, Identification of unrecognized diabetes and pre-diabetes in a dental setting, published in the July 2011 issue of the Journal of Dental Research, researchers at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine found that dental visits represented a chance to intervene in the diabetes epidemic by identifying individuals with diabetes or pre-diabetes who are unaware of their condition.

15 Jul 2011

Tocotrienol could help reduce stroke damage

Preventive supplementation with a natural form of vitamin E called tocotrienol could help reduce brain damage caused by strokes, researchers reported today at the 2nd International Conference on Tocotrienols and Chronic Diseases.

15 Jul 2011

UTHealth enrolls first patient in new stem cell therapy trial for ischemic stroke

The first Texas patient has been enrolled by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in the country's first double-blind clinical trial studying the safety and efficacy of an innovative stem cell therapy that can be given up to 19 days after an ischemic stroke.

15 Jul 2011

Being health wards off dementia and Alzheimer's: Study

According to a new study even relatively minor health problems seemingly unrelated to the mind may affect a person's risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease. This is apart from the other known risk factors like heart disease, strokes and other serious health conditions that affect the circulatory system or brain. The study was published this week in the journal Neurology.

14 Jul 2011

Maintaining general health may help reduce risk for dementia

Improving and maintaining health factors not traditionally associated with dementia, such as denture fit, vision and hearing, may lower a person's risk for developing dementia, according to a new study published in the July 13, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

14 Jul 2011

Reproductive steroids may play a role in occurrence of generalized tonic-clonic seizures in women

A recent multi-center study determined that women with generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) had a greater number of seizures during anovulatory cycles-menstrual cycles where an egg is not released-than in cycles where ovulation occurs. According to the study publishing today in Epilepsia, a journal of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), reproductive steroids may play a role in GTCS occurrence.

14 Jul 2011

New ‘state-by-state’ obesity data released in U.S.

A new report called ‘F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011’ from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shows that Massachusetts has one of the lowest obesity rates in the nation even as obesity rises across the Bay State.

14 Jul 2011

Chronic self-reported NSAID use associated with increased risk of adverse events in hypertensive patients with CAD

A study published in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine, reports that among hypertensive patients with coronary artery disease, chronic self-reported use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was associated with an increased risk of adverse events during long-term follow-up. Long-term NSAID use is common for treatment of chronic pain.

13 Jul 2011

Heart experts begin to test new device for treatment of blocked aortic valves

Heart experts at Johns Hopkins have begun testing a new device designed to replace blocked aortic valves in patients for whom traditional open-heart surgery is considered too risky, such as elderly patients and those with other serious medical conditions.

13 Jul 2011