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Ischemic Stroke Blog

Related terms: Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA), Stroke, CVA, Cerebrovascular Accident, Stroke, ischemic

Blog (263)

One-Third of Young Stroke Victims Remain Disabled Years After: Study

Posted 12 days ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 27, 2014 – One-third of people who suffer strokes before the age of 50 will have trouble dealing with the challenges of daily life even several years later, a new study finds. The finding suggests that younger age provides only limited protection against the devastation of a stroke. While strokes are much rarer in younger people, 10 percent of all strokes occur from age 18 to 50, the study authors noted. Dr. Steven Levine, an attending neurologist at The Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City, agreed. "Stroke in young people is more common than most people realize," he said. "Approximately 15 percent of all strokes due to blocked arteries [called ischemic strokes] occur in young adults and adolescents." Levine, who was not involved in the new study, added that stroke can often have a devastating effect on the lives of younger patients. "Compared to stroke in older ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke

Diabetes Boosts Stroke Risk for Women, But Not Men: Study

Posted 15 days ago by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2014 – A new study adds to the evidence that diabetes may boost the risk of a stroke in women but not in men. "All women, especially those over 55 years old, [should] get their risk factors for heart disease screened and aggressively treated," said Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of women and heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. She said prior studies have found that women with diabetes are at higher stroke risk compared to men with the disease. "As women go through menopause, the loss of protective estrogen allows for the risk factors of cardiovascular disease – such as diabetes – to wreak havoc on the arteries," explained Steinbaum, who was not involved in the new study. According to background information in the study, women living in developed countries are more likely to die from a stroke than their male peers. In the United States, women ... Read more

Related support groups: Diabetes, Type 2, Ischemic Stroke

Death of Partner Boosts Risk for Heart Attack, Stroke, Study Says

Posted 15 days ago by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2014 – It's often said that the loss of a spouse or partner leaves "a broken heart." That notion might have some scientific validity, with new evidence suggesting the risk for a heart attack or stroke goes up during the first few weeks of bereavement. "Our study shows the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke doubles in the crucial 30-day period after a partner's death for those experiencing loss of a loved one," said study co-author Sunil Shah. Bereavement has long been known as a risk factor for death. Prior work has suggested that grief has a direct negative impact on blood clotting risk, blood pressure, stress hormone levels and heart rate control, said Shah, a senior lecturer in public health at St. George's University of London in England. But citing a lack of sufficient information on the specific impact of bereavement on heart disease, Shah and his colleagues ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke, Heart Attack, Myocardial Infarction

Iron Deficiency May Raise Stroke Risk

Posted 19 days ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 20, 2014 – Low iron levels can raise your risk of stroke by making your blood more sticky, a new study indicates. Investigators looked at data from nearly 500 people with a rare hereditary disease that causes them to have enlarged blood vessels in the lungs. Typically, blood vessels in the lungs don't allow clots to enter the arteries. But in these patients, clots can escape the lungs, travel to the brain and cause a stroke. Those who had an iron deficiency had stickier platelets – which are small blood cells that trigger clotting when they stick together – and were more likely to suffer a stroke, according to the researchers at Imperial College London in the U.K. Even those with moderately low iron levels were about twice as likely to suffer a stroke as those with iron levels in the middle of the normal range, according to the study published Feb. 19 in the journal ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke, Iron Deficiency Anemia

Stroke's Aftermath May Be Tougher on Women

Posted 17 Feb 2014 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Feb. 17, 2014 – Women who survive a stroke tend to have a poorer quality of life than male stroke survivors do, a new study suggests. "As more people survive strokes, physicians and other health care providers should pay attention to quality-of-life issues and work to develop better interventions, even gender-specific screening tools, to improve these patients' lives," study senior author Dr. Cheryl Bushnell, an associate professor of neurology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, said in a center news release. For the study, published online recently in the journal Neurology, researchers looked at 1,370 adults, aged 56 to 77, who survived a stroke or mini-stroke. The patients were assessed three months and one year later. At three months, women were more likely than men to have mobility problems, pain and discomfort, as well as anxiety and depression. At one year, women ... Read more

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Moderate Exercise May Cut Women's Stroke Risk

Posted 13 Feb 2014 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2014 – Brisk walking, tennis and other types of moderate exercise may lower a woman's stroke risk by one-fifth, a new study says. Being more active also offset the increased stroke risk linked with using hormone replacement therapy to treat the symptoms of menopause, the study found. The researchers looked at the number of strokes that occurred among nearly 133,500 women in the California Teachers Study, which ran from 1996 to 2010. Women who said they did moderate physical activity in the three years before enrolling in the study were 20 percent less likely to have a stroke than those who were inactive. The findings were to be presented Thursday at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in San Diego. "I was surprised that moderate physical activity was most strongly associated with a reduced risk of stroke," study author Sophia Wang, a ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke, Ischemic Stroke - Prophylaxis

Stroke Risk May Persist Longer Than Thought After Childbirth

Posted 13 Feb 2014 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2014 – The increased risk of having a stroke or other blood-clotting problem might continue longer after a woman gives birth than previously believed, according to a new study. "Historically, six weeks was the accepted period," said study researcher Dr. Hooman Kamel. "We found the risk of blood clots remained higher than normal for twice as long as previously thought. After 12 weeks, it was no longer significant," said Kamel, an assistant professor in the Weill Cornell Medical College department of neurology and the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute. Even though the elevated risk continues for longer than previously believed, Kamel stressed that the overall risk is still low. The study was published online Feb. 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Kamel, who is also a neurologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, is presenting the study Thursday at ... Read more

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Early Clot-Busting Treatment Helps Most Stroke Patients: Study

Posted 13 Feb 2014 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2014 – Quick treatment with a clot-busting drug limits brain damage in stroke patients – even those who are elderly or have had more severe strokes, new research indicates. The drug – called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) – is widely used, but there is ongoing debate about when to give it and whether it's safe to use in older patients or in those with minor or severe stroke. A team of British experts reviewed data from more than 6,700 stroke patients who took part in nine clinical trials. They found that tPA reduced patients' risk of long-term disability and that earlier treatment improved outcomes. The review showed that 33 percent of patients who were given tPA within three hours of the start of stroke symptoms did not have significant disability three to six months later, compared with 23 percent of those who did not receive the drug. The rates were 35 ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke

Few Americans Get Recommended Emergency Stroke Care

Posted 13 Feb 2014 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2014 – Although most Americans live relatively close to a hospital that can give emergency stroke treatment, few actually receive the recommended therapies, a new study suggests. People suffering a stroke caused by a blood clot – which most strokes are – can be treated with a medication called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). As long as the drug is given within three hours of the first stroke symptoms, it can break up the blood clot and help limit brain damage from the stroke. But in the new study, researchers found that only 4 percent of the more than 370,000 Medicare patients who suffered a stroke in 2011 were treated with tPA. That was despite the fact that 81 percent of Americans live within an hour's drive of a hospital that can give the drug, which experts consider the "gold standard" for treating ischemic strokes. Ischemic strokes, the type caused by a ... Read more

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Head, Neck Injury May Triple Younger People's Risk for Stroke

Posted 13 Feb 2014 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 13, 2014 – Head and neck injuries may triple the odds that a young adult or child suffers the leading form of stroke, new research suggests. While strokes remain relatively rare in younger people, they do occur, one expert said. "Two thirds of strokes occur in people over the age of 65, but one third of strokes occur in those under the age of 65," said Dr. Richard Libman, chief of the division of vascular neurology at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Manhasset, N.Y. "Many strokes occur in people in the prime of their lives, depriving them of quality of life, and depriving society of their contributions," added Libman, who was not involved in the new study. "More research is needed into the causes and appropriate treatments for young people with stroke." In the study, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, analyzed the medical records of 1.3 million ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke