Neurology
Low-dose Aspirin Reduces Stroke Risk in Women
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Low dose aspirin is associated with a reduction in stroke risk among women age 65 or older, according to 10-year data from the Women’s Health reported Monday at the American College of Cardiology meeting here.
But there was no significant benefit for vitamin E therapy, said Paul M. Ridker, MD, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues, reporting for the Women’s Health Study.
Many ‘Minor’ Strokes Can Be Serious or Even Fatal
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Patients with mild or improving ischemic stroke sometimes aren’t treated with tissue-plasminogen activator (tPA) because their symptoms appear to be minor.
This may be a big mistake, cautioned researchers here and in Los Angeles.
Among 128 patients who showed up at the hospital within three hours of stroke onset, 41% didn’t get tPA because they appeared to be “too good to treat,” reported investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and the University of California at Los Angeles.
Exercise in middle age cuts Alzheimer’s risk
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Exercising in middle age not only keeps the weight down and the heart healthy but can also cut the risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, particularly in high risk people, Swedish researchers said on Monday.
Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that people in mid-life who exercised at least twice a week had about a 60 percent lower risk of suffering from dementia than more sedentary people.
GW Pharma says cannabis drug helps MS sufferers
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GW Pharmaceuticals Plc said on Tuesday its cannabis-based medicine Sativex was effective in reducing pain-related problems for patients suffering from multiple sclerosis.
The company said a study based on 66 patients found Sativex was significantly superior to placebo in reducing pain and sleep disturbance.
Training helps stroke caregivers cope
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A study conducted in the UK shows that hands-on training can ease the burden of caring for a loved one who has suffered a Stroke.
In the study, caregivers who were formally taught how to provide care at home tended to have less anxiety and a better quality of life than those who received no formal training in caregiving.
Blood pressure lowering helpful after stroke
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After people suffer a Stroke, lowering their blood pressure can slow or even stop the progression of lesions in the brain, new research suggests. The areas of damage are called white matter hyperintensities, or WMHs, because they show up brightly on MRI, and they have been linked to the development of dementia and Depression.
“Several studies have linked WMHs with hypertension, but it was unknown if blood pressure lowering could slow the progression of these lesions,” said Dr. Christophe Tzourio, from Hopital La Salpetriere in Paris.
Word test may give clues to Alzheimer’s disease
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A simple word test be used to identify people who might be suffering from the very early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease, according to UK researchers.
Results of a study presented at a science conference on Tuesday revealed that people in the first stages of the incurable illness cannot write down as many animals and fruits in one-minute period as healthy individuals.
Shock wave therapy helps some stroke sufferers
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After a Stroke, some patients develop muscle spasm in their hand and wrist. A small study now indicates that the condition can be relieved with focused shock wave therapy, and the benefits may persist for at least 12 weeks after treatment.
Shock wave therapy is commonly used to break up kidney stones, and it has also proven useful in the treatment of various bone and tendon diseases, but there’s not much known about its use for abnormal muscle tension, or “hypertonia,” Italian researchers note.
Magnetic stimulation may improve stroke recovery
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The results of a small preliminary trial suggest that a type of magnetic stimulation of the brain—- repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)—may produce short-term improvements after Stroke.
With rTMS, the head is placed close to intermittent magnetic fields. No anesthesia is required and the procedure is performed on an outpatient basis. Patients may complain of headaches during rTMS, depending on the strength of the field used.
Drug cuts fractures in Alzheimer, stroke patients
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People with Alzheimer’s Disease or certain types of Stroke are at increased risk for breaking a hip, but investigators in Japan have found that the bone-strengthening drug Actonel reduces this risk in both patient groups.
Vitamin D deficiency ultimately leads to bone thinning in female patients with Alzheimer’s, Dr. Yoshihiro Sato and colleagues note in their report.
Getting a flu shot may reduce your risk of stroke
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Getting a flu shot may not only protect you from catching the virus, it may also protect you from suffering a stroke, according to a study in which German doctors found an association between influenza vaccination and a reduced risk of stroke.
In a report in the journal Stroke, Dr. Armin J. Grau, of Klinikum der Stadt Ludwigshafen, and colleagues note that hospitalizations for stroke go up during influenza epidemics, so flu vaccination might prevent strokes.
ABCD predicts stroke risk after ‘mini-stroke’
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A scoring system based on a patient’s age, blood pressure, clinical features and duration of symptoms - the ABCD score - can be used to estimate the risk of a full-blown stroke in the 7 days after a TIA or ‘mini-stroke’, British investigators report.
Apart from identifying patients who should get emergency care, the risk score will also be useful for raising people’s awareness of the symptoms of stroke, Dr. Peter M. Rothwell, from the University of Oxford, and his colleagues note in their report in The Lancet medical journal.
Possible fifth Tysabri-related case - WSJ
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A possible fifth case of a rare and often fatal brain infection linked to the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri has been reported to federal regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The case was reported on May 16 through the Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Event Reporting System, which collects reports of possible drug reactions from physicians and drug makers. An FDA spokeswoman told the Journal that these reports do not represent confirmed cases.
Study links garden pesticides to Parkinson’s risk
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Gardeners should wear protective clothing when using pesticides, say scientists who have concluded in a new study that the chemicals can increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland have discovered that the more pesticides gardeners are exposed to, the more likely they are to develop the degenerative brain disease.
House to debate expanded stem cell research
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Legislation that would loosen restrictions on government funding of embryonic stem cell research headed for debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday under a veto threat from President Bush.
Bush, who has yet to veto a bill during his presidency, planned to join the debate from the White House with a speech about why the government should stick with his policy.
In 2001 Bush allowed federal funding for stem cell research but limited it to 78 stem cell lines that existed as of Aug. 9, 2001. Advocates of expanded research are pressuring Congress to change the policy, hoping stem cells will one day lead to medical advances on such diseases as Alzheimer’s and diabetes.
