Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Stroke News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/stroke/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171489.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171489.php New research has revealed that an alarming number of British people are not following official advice to reduce their salt consumption and take regular exercise in order to reduce their risk of suffering from serious health conditions such as stroke. Stroke Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171454.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171454.php Merz Pharmaceuticals announced Xeomin®, the first botulinum toxin type A free from complexing proteins has been granted an extension of indication for post-stroke spasticity of the upper limb presenting with flexed wrist and clenched fist in adults in various European countries. Xeomin® was already granted approval for post-stroke spasticity of the upper limb in early 2009 in Canada, Mexico and Argentina. Stroke Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171395.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171395.php Until recently, scientists believed that, following a stroke, a patient had about six months to regain any lost function. After that, patients would be forced to compensate for the lost function by focusing on their remaining abilities. Stroke Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171397.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171397.php A police officer who works the night shift, typically from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., already is at a disadvantage when it comes to getting a good "night's" sleep. Add frequent overtime to that schedule, and an officer may be climbing into bed as the sun comes up, setting the stage for short and unrestful slumber. A new study published in the current issue of Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health (vol. 64, No. Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171363.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171363.php Many patients with diabetes should forego angioplasties for heart disease and just take medicine instead, according to a new National Institutes of Health study led by Stanford University School of Medicine researcher Mark Hlatky, MD. Previous research had shown that patients with type-2 diabetes and mild-to-moderate heart disease have no reduction in risk for heart attacks, strokes or death if they have an angioplasty compared with simply taking the right medications. Heart Disease Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171256.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171256.php Stroke researchers at the Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston are the only ones in Texas to offer a novel device that might extend the acute stroke treatment window from three hours to 24. The miniature neurostimulator, about the size of a staple, is implanted near the sphenopalatine ganglion, a nerve located in the roof of the patient's mouth, within 24 hours of the onset of acute ischemic stroke. Stroke Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171074.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171074.php Pooling results from 21 studies, involving 622,381 men and women, researchers at Johns Hopkins have affirmed that migraine headaches are associated with more than twofold higher chances of the most common kind of stroke: those occurring when blood supply to the brain is suddenly cut off by the buildup of plaque or a blood clot. The risk for those with migraines is 2.3 times those without, according to calculations from the Johns Hopkins team, to be presented Nov. Headache / Migraine Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171076.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171076.php Results of a Mayo Clinic study show the incidence of stroke or mini-stroke related to a coronary angioplasty remained steady over a 15-year period. Researchers say this is good news because physicians now are performing the artery-opening procedure on older patients who are sicker and need more complicated treatment. Stroke Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171029.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171029.php While mothers have known that feeding their kids milk builds strong bones, a new study by researchers at the Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City suggests that Vitamin D contributes to a strong and healthy heart as well - and that inadequate levels of the vitamin may significantly increase a person's risk of stroke, heart disease, and death, even among people who've never had heart disease. Heart Disease Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170972.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170972.php Physical exercise is one of the most effective methods of preventing disease. The current issue of Deutsches Arzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106[40]: 713 - 27) is devoted to this important topic. The first article, by Carl D. Reimers and coauthors, deals with the remarkable potential of physical exercise to prevent stroke. In men, exercise lowers the risk of cerebral hemorrhage by 40%, and that of cerebral infarction by 27%. Sports Medicine / Fitness Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170683.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170683.php Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have discovered a mechanism that controls the brain's ability to create lasting memories. In experiments on genetically manipulated mice, they were able to switch on and off the animals' ability to form lasting memories by adding a substance to their drinking water. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal PNAS, are of potential significance to the future treatment of Alzheimer's and stroke. Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170646.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170646.php The Society of Interventional Radiology offers numerous resources - including publications and the first-ever Catheter Lysis of Thromboembolic Stroke (CLOTS) course - for interventional radiologists, neuroradiologists, neurointerventionists, body interventionalists, and IR and INR fellows to aid in the understanding of stroke and carotid artery disease. Stroke Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170599.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170599.php Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered a mechanism that controls the brain's ability to create lasting memories. In experiments on genetically manipulated mice, they were able to switch on and off the animals' ability to form lasting memories by adding a substance to their drinking water. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal PNAS, are of potential significance to the future treatment of Alzheimer's and stroke. Alzheimer's / Dementia Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170526.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170526.php Depression occurs in as many as one-third of patients after a stroke, and women are at somewhat higher risk, according to a large new review of studies. Post-stroke depression is associated with greater disability, reduced quality of life and an increased risk of death. The systematic review appears in the November-December issue of the journal Psychosomatics. Brittany Poynter, M.D. Depression Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170435.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170435.php Cumulative exposure to five common infection-causing pathogens may be associated with an increased risk of stroke, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the January 2010 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Stroke is the third leading cause of death and leading cause of serious disability in the United States, according to background information in the article. Stroke Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170448.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170448.php Aside from aging itself, obesity appears to be the most powerful predictor of left atrial enlargement (LAE), upping one's risk of atrial fibrillation (the most common type of arrhythmia), stroke and death, according to findings published in the November 17, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170241.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170241.php Among eligible Medicare beneficiaries, increased use of carotid arterial stenting (CAS) procedures to treat carotid stenosis - the narrowing of the carotid artery - is associated with higher rates of mortality and adverse clinical outcomes, including heart attack and stroke, according to researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Cardiovascular / Cardiology Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170088.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170088.php One category of medical mysteries that stumps expert doctors and policymakers alike falls under the heading: What works? News reports on two new studies - and one that was never completed - offer insight into that issue. It turns out that "one of the first things you do at a doctor's visit" may not do much to improve your health, the Chicago Tribune reports. Cardiovascular / Cardiology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169964.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169964.php For estrogen replacement to provide stroke protection, it likely must be given soon after levels drop because of menopause or surgical removal of the ovaries, scientists report in the Journal of Neuroscience. Stroke Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169750.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169750.php Eighteen years ago this month the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it would sponsor a landmark study to examine women and cardiovascular disease. Known as the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), the study enrolled more than 161,000 women. By 2004 however, the government had ended two arms of the study involving estrogen after researchers found it posed a small but detrimental risk for stroke to postmenopausal women taking the hormone. Stroke Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169758.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169758.php Dr Assumpta Ryan and Hilary Thompson recently published findings from a study involving 16 married stroke survivors nine males and seven females aged between 33 and 78. The study found that sexual relationships were significantly affected after a stroke, gender roles became blurred and feelings like anger and frustration were confounded by a lack of independence and ongoing fatigue. Stroke Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169695.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169695.php Learning to talk also changes the way speech sounds are heard, according to a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by scientists at Haskins Laboratories, a Yale-affiliated research laboratory. The findings could have a major impact on improving speech disorders. "We've found that learning is a two-way street; motor function affects sensory processing and vice-versa," said David J. Neurology / Neuroscience Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169546.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169546.php The latest issue of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB) reports that the use of low-dose aspirin to protect against heart attacks and strokes in individuals yet to develop obvious cardiovascular disease, should be abandoned. Low-dose aspirin is widely used to prevent further episodes of cardiovascular disease in people who have already had problems such as a heart attack or stroke. This approach is known as secondary prevention. Cardiovascular / Cardiology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169460.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169460.php Rural and small, suburban hospitals in North Carolina and Virginia can now provide a higher level of emergency stroke and critical neurology care, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, as part of a new teleneurology medicine program announced Oct. 26, 2009, by Forsyth Medical Center (FMC). Stroke Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169447.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169447.php Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death for women worldwide, killing more than 8.6 million, more than the total number who die from cancer, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. However, the risk for women is largely under-estimated, by both the general population and often by the medical profession itself. Heart Disease