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.

Successor to Vioxx fails to quell concerns

When drug company Merck revealed the the results of a study this week over it's successor to Vioxx, the new arthritis drug Arcoxia, it did little to quell concerns about both the use and the safety of the new drug.

15 Nov 2006

Botox could fix your knees as well as your wrinkles

The preliminary results of a new study have found that Botox, better known for getting rid of wrinkles, significantly reduced severe pain from osteoarthritis of the knee and also improved the knee's function.

15 Nov 2006

Researchers identify risk factors for healthy survival in men

Avoiding health risk factors in midlife such as smoking, being overweight, excessive drinking and hypertension is associated with a longer and healthier life in men, according to a study in the November 15 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, a theme issue on men's health.

14 Nov 2006

IVF success compromised by heavy smoking

Fertility experts say the women who are heavy smokers are less likely to become pregnant through IVF treatment, even when donated eggs are used.

13 Nov 2006

Safety of t-PA clot-busting therapy questioned

Across the world, emergency medical teams often administer a powerful clot-busting drug called tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) to help patients stricken by heart attack.

13 Nov 2006

Potential for first diagnostic DNA test to guide antidepressant treatment

Treatment of depression is difficult for both patients and for psychiatrists. While there are numerous drugs available that work, finding the right one -- or right combination -- is, at times, a matter of trial and error.

31 Oct 2006

Doctors warned that commonly used painkillers linked to increased risk of heart attacks

Doctors in the UK are being warned that commonly used painkillers such as ibuprofen can increase the risk of heart attacks if taken over long periods.

25 Oct 2006

Confusion abounds on how to treat the menopause

The results in 2002 of a large U.S. study on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in many respects left women confused and alarmed about the treatment for the menopause.

25 Oct 2006

Implantable chip to establish new nerve connections in brain area that controls movement

Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) are working on an implantable electronic chip that may help establish new nerve connections in the part of the brain that controls movement.

24 Oct 2006

Biomarkers in blood indicate likelihood of having another stroke

People who have just suffered their first ischemic stroke, a blood clot in the brain, often have elevated inflammatory biomarkers in their blood that indicate their likelihood of having another stroke or an increased risk of dying, according to Columbia University Medical Center researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

24 Oct 2006

Statins can significantly reduce the incidence of stroke, myocardial infarction

The study, presented at CHEST 2006, the 72nd annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), showed that statins notably reduced such incidences in these nonrevascularized patients with chronic high cholesterol, as well.

23 Oct 2006

Health hazards of global warming

Global warming could do more to hurt your health than simply threaten summertime heat stroke, says a public health physician.

23 Oct 2006

Mediterranean diet shown to protect against Alzheimer's

A new study has added to the growing body of research which suggests that eating a Mediterranean diet can help to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

10 Oct 2006

Progesterone improves outcomes for victims of traumatic brain injury

A new study suggests that giving progesterone to victims with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) shortly following brain injury may reduce the risk of death and the degree of disability, and appears to be safe.

3 Oct 2006

Newly discovered molecule could lead to new treatments for obesity

Japanese scientists have found a molecule which is responsible for making mammals feel full, and they believe the discovery could lead to new ways to treat obesity in humans.

3 Oct 2006

Bayer forgot to tell risks of heart surgery drug

According to the German drug giant Bayer AG, the reason the company failed to inform U.S. regulators about a study on the risks of the heart-surgery drug Trasylol was a mistake.

2 Oct 2006

Diabetics get transplanted cells and eliminate the need for insulin shots

The first international test of a method using transplanted pancreas cells in diabetes patients has shown some success.

28 Sep 2006

High hourly air pollution levels more than double stroke risk

High hourly levels of air pollution, more than double the risk of one type of stroke, suggests research published ahead of print in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

21 Sep 2006

Researchers create roadmap to integrin activation

Calling it an important technical advance in the study of the complex receptors and pathways of the body's cellular system, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have reconstructed the signaling pathways that impact activation of a receptor that is critical to the control of bleeding and to the thrombosis that occurs in heart attacks and strokes.

18 Sep 2006

New campaign to educate about peripheral arterial disease

More than 8 million men and women - one in 20 adults - have peripheral arterial disease (P.A.D), a largely unrecognized condition which puts them at risk for heart attack and stroke.

13 Sep 2006