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.

Antisocial behaviour in boys leads to poor health in men

A study of over 500 men born in the early 70s in Dunedin reveals that the costs associated with antisocial behaviour may be much higher than previously thought. The research led by scientists from the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre based at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London is published in Archives of General Psychiatry.

3 Apr 2007

Trial of percutaneous coronary intervention added to optimal medical therapy in patients with stable coronary heart disease

Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) involve opening partially blocked arteries to improve blood flow to the heart. These procedures are performed more than 1 million times a year.

3 Apr 2007

New blood thinner thrombin-receptor antagonist may work without bleeding risk

When studying a new blood thinner, one of the first signs the drug is working is seeing a slight increase in minor bleeding, nose bleeds and bruising, an inconvenient side effect of preventing the blood clots that are the leading cause of heart attack and stroke.

3 Apr 2007

H63D genetic defect linked to increased risk of stroke

One of the most common genetic defects passed on through families significantly increases a person's chance of having a stroke, according to a study published in the March 27, 2007, issue of Neurology?, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

2 Apr 2007

Effect of Torcetrapib on the progression of coronary atherosclerosis

Investigators report that torcetrapib, a drug that substantially raises high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or HDL (the "good" cholesterol), did not slow the progression of plaque buildup in the coronary arteries as measured using an ultrasound probe (IVUS).

2 Apr 2007

Addition of torcetrapib to statin therapy has no benefit for atherosclerosis progression

For some patients with high cholesterol, even the most aggressive treatment with statin drugs fails to prevent coronary artery disease.

2 Apr 2007

Synthetic molecule helps detect heart attack in the making

A new bright spot in heart disease research may soon allow physicians to peer directly into patients' blood vessels and find dangerous cholesterol-filled plaques before they rupture and cause a heart attack.

2 Apr 2007

New discoveries offer promise for cholesterol drugs

New discoveries offer promise for developing drugs that improve on the therapeutic profile of niacin, the inexpensive, time-tested B-vitamin that boosts levels of HDL cholesterol, the good cholesterol with the potential to protect people against heart attacks and stroke, scientists report.

1 Apr 2007

Coronary procedure adds no benefit over 'optimal medical therapy' alone

Percutaneous coronary intervention plus optimal medical therapy does not improve outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease, compared with optimal medical therapy alone, according to study results presented at the 56th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans, and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

1 Apr 2007

Hearing-protection tablet helps soldiers defend against hearing loss

Soldiers exposed to the deafening din of battle have little defense against hearing loss, and are often reluctant to wear protective gear like ear plugs that could make them less able to react to danger.

31 Mar 2007

Novel anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent reduces coronary events

Heart attacks are caused by a build-up and instability of plaque in the coronary arteries, which is often a result of chronic inflammation of the blood vessel walls.

31 Mar 2007

FDA announces marketing halt for GI drug, Zelnorm

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has requested that Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation of East Hanover, New Jersey, voluntarily discontinue marketing of Zelnorm (tegaserod) based on the recently identified finding of an increased risk of serious cardiovascular adverse events (heart problems) associated with use of the drug. Novartis has agreed to voluntarily suspend marketing of the drug in the United States.

30 Mar 2007

Angioplasty doesn't outweigh medicine in study

In what some leading cardiologists are calling a "blockbuster" study, new research could alter the approach to treating patients who have cardiovascular disease but may not be at immediate risk of heart attack or stroke.

30 Mar 2007

Medications plus lifestyle changes work as well as angioplasty to reduce deaths in stable heart-disease patients

Coronary revascularization with stenting or balloon angioplasty combined with optimal medical therapy is no more effective in preventing a heart attack, other major cardiovascular events or death in patients with stable heart disease, than optimal medical therapy alone, results of a new study conducted in 50 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada has shown.

27 Mar 2007

Creatine may help Parkinson's patients by giving an energy boost to dying cells

Whether a supplement used by athletes to boost energy levels and build muscle can slow progression of Parkinson's disease is the focus of a North American study.

22 Mar 2007

CardioMEMS implants first wireless pressure sensor to monitor hypertension

CardioMEMS has announced that its wireless pressure sensor was successfully surgically implanted into the wrist of three severely hypertensive patients at Hospital DIPRECA in Santiago, Chile by cardio-thoracic surgeons, Miguel Luis Berr, MD and Michael Tuchek, DO.

22 Mar 2007

Treating sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure reduces incidence of stroke

Patients with moderate to severe sleep apnea who have significantly higher serum levels of inflammatory markers that serve as precursors to coronary artery disease, as well as lesions associated with silent brain infarction, have an elevated risk of stroke, according to a group of Japanese medical researchers.

19 Mar 2007