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.

New review outlines Bionovo's platform of estrogen receptor modulators for menopausal conditions

Bionovo, Inc. today announced the publication of a review of results from studies discussing new classes of estrogen receptor modulating drugs with distinct mechanism for pharmacological effect. The review is published in the most recent edition of Current Opinion in Pharmacology.

22 Oct 2010

New guidelines feature various key updates for stroke or TIA survivors

Treating metabolic syndrome and undergoing carotid angioplasty may prevent recurrent stroke or transient ischemic attack, according to revised American Heart Association/American Stroke Association guidelines.

22 Oct 2010

PolyMedix plans PMX-60056 Phase 2 clinical trial in interventional cardiology

PolyMedix, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing new therapeutic drugs to treat infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders, has announced plans for a Phase 2 clinical trial of PMX-60056 in interventional cardiology, and the establishment of a focused Heptagonist Clinical Advisory Board (CAB). PMX-60056 is a synthetic small-molecule designed to reverse the anticoagulant activity of heparin and low molecular weight heparins (LMWH).

21 Oct 2010

Alexion 2010 third quarter revenue increases from $102.6 to $141.6 million

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010.

21 Oct 2010

Highlights of Frontiers in Optics 2010/Laser Science XXVI Meeting

Scientists and engineers from around the world will gather on the shores of Lake Ontario in Rochester, N.Y. next week to discuss some of the latest breakthroughs in lasers and optics and their applications to cutting-edge science, the development of new materials, and medicine.

21 Oct 2010

FDA asks manufacturers to add new warnings to labeling of prostate cancer drugs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today asked manufacturers to add new warnings to labeling of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists, a class of drugs primarily used to treat men with prostate cancer.

21 Oct 2010

Researcher identifies two risk markers for Alzheimer's disease

Risk markers could play an important role in this. These are substances linked to Alzheimer's that are found in unusually high or unusually low quantities in patients who go on to develop the disease.

21 Oct 2010

Hormone therapy associated with increased risk of death from breast cancer

Results of a new Women's Health Initiative (WHI) report show that hormone therapy is associated with an increased the risk of death from breast cancer, as well as an increased risk of developing invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

21 Oct 2010

Scientists find potential Achilles Heel in JC polyomavirus

The JC polyomavirus doesn't strike very often, but it's a mean bug that preys on people with weakened immune systems, including people with AIDS, and almost always kills them. Now an international team of scientists at Brown University, the University of T-bingen in Germany, and Imperial College in London has found a potential Achilles Heel and painted a target on it: The virus must bind to a very specific sugar molecule dangling from the side of the brain cells it attacks.

21 Oct 2010

Alexion announces results of eculizumab two open-label Phase 2 studies for aHUS treatment

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its two open-label Phase 2 studies investigating eculizumab (Soliris) as a treatment for patients with atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aHUS) have met the primary and key secondary endpoints with high clinical and statistical significance, in interim analyses.

21 Oct 2010

New brush optrode improves optical scanning of brain activity

One of the main techniques for measuring and monitoring mental activity, called functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), can often be impaired because a person's hair gets in the way. But now, thanks to a team of researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Texas at Arlington, a novel device called a "brush optrode" is providing increased sensitivity with fiber tips designed to thread through hair to enhance scalp contact.

20 Oct 2010

Neuralstem updates Phase I human clinical trial of spinal cord stem cells for ALS

Neuralstem, Inc. updated the progress of its ongoing Phase I human clinical trial of the company's spinal cord stem cells in the treatment of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease) at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

20 Oct 2010

FDA approves Boehringer Ingelheim's Pradaxa for stroke risk reduction in patients with non-valvular AF

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate), Boehringer Ingelheim's novel, oral direct thrombin inhibitor for stroke risk reduction in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) marking the first approval of a new oral anticoagulant in the U.S. in more than 50 years.

20 Oct 2010

Falls are the leading cause of ER visits and unintentional home injury deaths

If you or someone you know has been treated in the emergency department recently after suffering a fall, you are not alone. Unintentional falls are the leading injury-related reason for why people seek emergency care, with almost 9 million visits occurring each year, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

20 Oct 2010

Aspirin before cardiac surgery reduces postoperative cardiocerebral complications

A study presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists 2010 Annual Meeting revealed that use of aspirin before cardiac surgery reduced postoperative cardiocerebral complications, including stroke, myocardial ischemia, heart block and cardiac arrest by more than 33 percent when compared to patients who did not use aspirin.

20 Oct 2010

Smokers have more complications and higher death rate after surgery than non-smokers

Results from a clinical study presented at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2010 found that smokers have significantly more complications post-surgery than non-smokers, including a higher death rate.

20 Oct 2010

Hospital mortality rates decline by 7.98% from 2007 to 2009

A new independent study by HealthGrades of patient outcomes at America's hospitals found that patients at 5-star rated hospitals had a 72% lower risk of dying when compared with patients at 1-star-rated hospitals -- an enormous gap that has held steady over the past years even as overall mortality rates have improved.

20 Oct 2010