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Ischemic Stroke Blog

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

Blog (151)

Strokes More Common in Southern States: CDC

Posted 3 days ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, May 24 – While fewer people in the United States are dying from strokes, the number of strokes has remained about the same, health officials report. And their findings bear out the South's reputation as the nation's so-called "stroke belt." According to the report on stroke prevalence from 2006 to 2010, the number of self-reported strokes dipped slightly from 2.7 percent to 2.6 percent during that time. However, disparities still exist by geography, race and ethnicity, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Overall, there is not much change in these five years," said lead report author Dr. Jing Fang, an epidemiologist in CDC's Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. Only two states – Georgia and South Dakota – showed a significant decrease, she added. However, deaths from stroke decreased significantly, with the CDC reporting a 3.6 percent ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke, Ischemic Stroke -- Prophylaxis

Clot Buster Seems to Help Up to 6 Hours After Stroke

Posted 4 days ago by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, May 23 – The largest study of its kind finds that stroke patients benefit from a clot-busting drug even six hours after a stroke, suggesting that the current recommended 4.5-hour limit could be expanded. The drug, called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), can make a huge difference for patients who suffer ischemic strokes, which are caused by blockages in blood vessels. The drug dissolves blood clots, potentially preventing damage in the brain. Guidelines had suggested that the drug must be given within three hours of a stroke to work, but recent research indicated that the time frame could be extended to 4.5 hours, said Dr. Ying Xian, a cardiology research fellow at Duke Clinical Research Institute, who was not involved with the new study. Now, Xian said, the new research, while it has caveats, suggests that the window could be expanded even more. In the new study, ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke

U.S. Sees Drop in Deaths Linked to Diabetes

Posted 5 days ago by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, May 22 – Healthier lifestyles and better disease management led to a sharp drop in death rates for Americans with diabetes between 1997 and 2006, especially deaths caused by heart disease and stroke, a new federal government report shows. During that time, deaths from all causes for Americans with diabetes fell by 23 percent and deaths caused by heart disease and stroke in this group declined by 40 percent, according to the analysis of 1997-2004 National Health Interview Survey data on nearly 250,000 adults. One expert said the findings were reason for hope. "The encouraging news that less diabetic patients are dying from heart disease and stroke is a testament to multiple factors that have changed the playing field," said Dr. Tara Narula, a cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. The study was conducted by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and ... Read more

Clot-Buster Doesn't Raise Bleeding Risk in Warfarin Patients: Study

Posted 17 days ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, May 10 – Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), a drug used to combat clots in stroke patients, does not increase the risk of dangerous bleeding in patients also taking the blood thinner warfarin, new research found. The study included information on more than 23,000 ischemic stroke patients treated with tPA at more than 1,200 U.S. hospitals. Ischemic stroke, the most common type of brain attack, is caused by a blocked blood vessel to the brain. The clot-busting drug tPA is sold under the brand name Activase and the generic name alteplase. In the study, about 8 percent of the stroke patients were taking the anticoagulant warfarin (Coumadin) before hospital admission. The researchers found little difference in the risk of severe bleeding due to a brain hemorrhage in patients who received tPA while on warfarin versus those not taking the blood-thinning drug. The study also found ... Read more

Related support groups: Coumadin, Warfarin, Ischemic Stroke, Ischemic Stroke -- Prophylaxis, Jantoven

Rate of Hospitalizations for Stroke Has Declined in U.S.

Posted 18 days ago by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, May 9 – The rate at which Americans are hospitalized for stroke has fallen, according to new government statistics released Wednesday. According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), hospitalizations for stroke rose to nearly 35 per 10,000 people during the 1990s but had decreased again to under 32 per 10,000 by 2009. Even so, that means there were still about 800,000 hospitalizations for stroke in 1989 and nearly 1 million in 1999 and 2009 as the population grew, the agency said. Over two-thirds of these hospitalized patients were aged 65 or older. Improvements were seen among older patients generally. Between 1999 and 2009, the stroke hospitalization rate fell 20 percent for people aged 65 to 74 and by the same amount for people aged 85 and older. It decreased even more – 24 percent – for those aged 75 to 84, the report stated. The average length of ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke, Ischemic Stroke -- Prophylaxis

Irregular Heartbeat Poses Greater Stroke Risk for Women Than Men

Posted 19 days ago by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, May 8 – Older women with the irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation face a 14 percent greater risk of stroke than men with the same condition, Canadian researchers report. The raised risk remained higher even when women were taking the blood-thinner warfarin (Coumadin) to prevent stroke, the study authors noted. "Previously, there was a common belief that women were undertreated, and this was the cause for the higher risk of stroke," said lead researcher Dr. Louise Pilote, director of the division of general internal medicine at McGill University and McGill University Health Center in Montreal. "Our current paper shows that this is not the situation and, compared to men, women have higher risk for stroke regardless of warfarin prescriptions," she said. "This study should alert doctors treating patients with atrial fibrillation that women, especially older women, have ... Read more

Low-Fat Dairy Linked to Lower Stroke Risk

Posted 19 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, April 19 – In what the researchers say is the largest study on the issue to date, adults who consumed higher amounts of low-fat dairy products also had a somewhat lower long-term risk of stroke. The study involved nearly 75,000 Swedish adults who were tracked for an average of 10 years after completing a dietary questionnaire. Those who consumed low-fat versions of products such as milk, yogurt or cheese had a 12 percent lower risk for stroke than those whose diet typically included high/full-fat versions of these dairy staples. "I think this finding certainly makes sense," said Lona Sandon, a dietician and assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. "When you have more high-fat dairy you have more saturated fat, which we know is one of the types of fats that can affect LDL, or 'bad,' cholesterol levels. And ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke, Ischemic Stroke -- Prophylaxis

More Smog Might Mean More Hospitalizations

Posted 18 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, April 18 – Long-term exposure to fine-particle air pollution may increase older adults' risk of being hospitalized for lung and heart disease, stroke and diabetes, a new study says. Harvard School of Public Health researchers compared air-quality data with hospital admission records on all Medicare patients aged 65 and older admitted to 3,000 New England hospitals between 2000 and 2006. The researchers focused on fine air particles known as PM2.5, which have a diameter of 2.5 microns or less and are narrower than the width of a human hair. These particles – emitted by vehicles, power plants, wood-burning devices and some industrial processes – can lodge in the lungs and cause inflammation throughout the body. "Our study found that long-term rates of admissions for pneumonia, heart attacks, strokes and diabetes are higher in locations with higher long-term average particle ... Read more

Spouses of Cancer Patients May Have Raised Risk of Heart Disease, Stroke

Posted 11 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, April 11 – The spouses of cancer patients are at increased risk of heart disease and stroke, a new study suggests. Researchers said the explanation might be that stress takes a toll on the health of caregivers. Using the national Swedish cancer registry and the Swedish inpatient registry, researchers found that risk for heart disease and stroke increased by 13 to 29 percent in people whose partner had cancer. "Our study shows that preventive efforts aimed at reducing psychological stress and negative risk factors are important for people whose life partner has got cancer," Jianguang Ji, a researcher from the Centre for Primary Healthcare Research in Malmo, Sweden, said in a university news release. "Previous studies have shown that preventive work can considerably reduce stress and anxiety in close relatives of patients." The study authors considered another explanation for ... Read more

Related support groups: Heart Disease, Ischemic Stroke

Mobile Stroke Units Might Trim Time to Treatment

Posted 11 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, April 11 – Clot-busting drugs can help stave off lasting disability after a stroke, but they must be given within a 4.5-hour window and many people arrive at the hospital too late to use them. Now, German researchers report that they think they have found a solution to the problem: mobile stroke units. Equipped with what is needed to diagnose and treat a stroke, these ambulances are stocked with clot-busting tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and the CT scanning technology needed to confirm whether an ischemic stroke has occurred, blood flow is blocked and it is safe to use tPA. Unfortunately, while the mobile stroke units did speed the time to treatment, this did not lead to improvements in neurological outcomes or increase the number of people who received tPA. The findings are published in the April 11 online edition of The Lancet Neurology. In the study conducted by Dr. ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke

Sibling Had a Stroke? Your Risk Might Rise, Too

Posted 10 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, April 10 – One clue to your risk for a stroke may come from a look at your siblings' experience with the brain attacks, a new study says. People whose brother or sister had a stroke were up to 64 percent more likely to suffer one, compared to folks without such family histories, Swedish researchers report. The risk rose even higher when the stroke to the sibling occurred when he or she was relatively young. For example, when a sibling had a stroke before the age of 56, their brother or sister's risk for a stroke nearly doubled, the study found. The findings refer to the most common kind of stroke – so-called ischemic stroke – which occurs when blood flow is cut off to the brain as a result of a blood-vessel blockage. "Patients in the risk zone of getting a heart attack or a stroke should be made aware that a genetic predisposition exists," said study lead author Dr. Erik ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke

Could Menthol Cigarettes Pose Even Higher Stroke Risk?

Posted 9 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, April 9 – Menthol cigarettes may pose an even greater risk for stroke than other types of cigarettes, especially for women and non-black smokers, says a new, large study. In the latest look at the hazards of menthols vs. regular cigarettes, Canadian researchers found the stroke risk for those who smoked menthols was more than twice that for regular-cigarette smokers. And for women and non-blacks, the risk was more than three times higher. But no elevated risk was seen between mentholated cigarette smoking and high blood pressure, heart attack, heart failure and the lung disease chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the researchers said. Exactly how, or if, smoking menthol cigarettes raises risk of stroke more than other cigarettes types is not fully understood. "One potential mechanism is that menthol stimulates upper-airway cold receptors, which can increase ... Read more

Related support groups: Smoking, Ischemic Stroke

Omega-3 Supplements No Help Against Repeat Heart Trouble: Review

Posted 9 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, April 9 – Taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements won't protect against repeat heart attacks, strokes or other cardiovascular problems, a new analysis indicates. "I was not surprised at these findings because I assumed that there was no benefit of omega-3 supplements," said lead researcher Dr. Seung-Kwon Myung, chief of the carcinogenesis branch of the National Cancer Center, Republic of Korea. The study is published online April 9 in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Instead of taking supplements, people trying to prevent heart disease or repeat problems should eat oily fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel, which are all rich in omega-3 fatty acids, Myung said. "It is effective against cardiovascular disease to eat fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, not supplements," he said. Many studies have demonstrated that eating fatty fish two or more times a week is linked with a lower ... Read more

When Paramedics Suspect Stroke, They're Usually Right

Posted 30 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, March 30 – When paramedics say a patient's symptoms indicate a stroke, they are usually right, a new study suggests. Researchers at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago examined the records of 5,300 patients brought to the center's emergency department by emergency medical services. The analysis revealed that paramedics identified stroke patients with a 99.3 percent specificity. A high specificity rate indicates there's a high probability the patient actually has the diagnosed condition. "If a paramedic thinks a patient is having a stroke, that should be a reliable indicator that the hospital's stroke team should be activated," study co-author Dr. Michael Schneck, a professor in the departments of neurology and neurological surgery of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and medical director of the Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit, said in a Loyola news ... Read more

Related support groups: Ischemic Stroke

Depression Often Follows Stroke, But Treatment Lacking

Posted 29 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, March 29 – While depression is common among people who've survived a stroke, it too often goes undiagnosed and untreated, research shows. "Patients need to be open about their symptoms of depression and discuss them with their physicians so that they can work together to improve outcomes," study co-author Dr. Nada El Husseini, a stroke fellow in the neurology division at Duke University Medical Center, said in a news release from the journal Stroke. The study included 1,450 adults survivors of ischemic stroke (involving blocked blood flow to the brain) and 397 with a transient ischemic attack (TIA or "mini-stroke"). The researchers found that about 18 percent of the stroke patients and more than 14 percent of the TIA patients were depressed three months after their hospitalization. Twelve months after hospitalization, 16.4 percent of stroke patients and almost 13 percent of ... Read more

Related support groups: Depression, Ischemic Stroke

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