Stroke
Pregnancy problems up stroke risk in offspring
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Adults whose mothers suffered from “preeclampsia” or “gestational hypertension” while pregnant appear to be at increased risk of suffering a stroke, new research suggests.
Preeclampsia is a complication of pregnancy marked by high blood pressure, fluid retention and protein in urine, whereas gestational hypertension is high blood pressure that develops during pregnancy.
In a study, researchers found that people whose mothers had preeclampsia have nearly double the risk of stroke. A similar, albeit smaller, effect was seen with pregnancies complicated by gestational hypertension.
Study ties fast food to stroke risk
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People who live in neighborhoods packed with fast-food restaurants are more likely to suffer strokes, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
They said residents of one Texas county who lived in neighborhoods with the highest number of fast-food restaurants had a 13 percent higher risk of experiencing a stroke than those in neighborhoods with the fewest such restaurants.
The study, presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference, does not prove living near fast-food restaurants raises the risk of stroke, but it does suggest the two are linked in some way.
Braces improve balance and gait after stroke
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For people who have suffered a stroke, bracing or splinting the ankle and foot can help them regain balance and mobility, according to British researchers.
In a press release, Dr. Sarah F. Tyson notes that physiotherapists have been reluctant to prescribe lower limb splints for stroke patients. However, she adds, “Views have been slowly shifting in the last few years.”
Tyson, at the University of Salford, and Dr. Ruth M. Kent of the University of Leeds identified 14 clinical trials that compared post-stroke use of a splint or brace plus normal management with normal management alone. The devices, technically referred to as orthoses, are designed to keep joints properly aligned.
Researchers Assess the State of Stroke Telemedicine
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Stroke telemedicine is a lifesaving practice that deserves further advancement, Mayo researchers write in the January 2009 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Since its inception, stroke telemedicine has developed nationally and internationally as a reliable means of aiding patients. Yet certain key systematic components need to be developed more fully while specific unsettled issues must be resolved.
Called a “telestroke,” a patient with suspected stroke symptoms presents to a local hospital emergency department to undergo a remote stroke assessment by a vascular neurologist at a hub hospital. Described as a consultative modality, stroke telemedicine consults specialists at stroke centers to facilitate the care of patients with acute stroke at underserviced hospitals. In the article, Mayo researchers explain: Telecommunications, which started with the telephone and advanced to audiovisual (AV) communication, has changed the face of medicine not only in remote areas but also in urban areas with a shortage of subspecialties. A surge in the use of telestroke across the United States, Canada and Europe occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s, resulting in the development of 20 new telestroke networks. The implementation of telemedicine for stroke is a vital piece to the puzzle of creating universal access to emergency care for all patients with stroke, regardless of geographic location or hospital resources.
“Well-designed studies have shown that this consultative modality is valid, accurate and reliable. Numerous telestroke networks exist worldwide, and most of these networks have published their implementation experiences and early outcome results,” reports study author Bart Demaerschalk, M.D., Mayo Clinic neurologist. “Successfully delivered promises of telestroke include remote instant expert stroke diagnoses, delivery of short-term therapies, and secondary prevention advice.”
Job Strain Associated With Stroke in Japanese Men
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Japanese men in high-stress jobs appear to have an increased risk of stroke compared with those in less demanding positions, according to a report in the January 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Stress is considered a risk factor for stroke, according to background information in the article. Several models of job stress have been developed and provide clues as to how occupational factors may be modified to reduce risk. “The job demand–control model is the most often used occupational stress model,” the authors write. “It posits that workers who face high psychological demands in their occupation and have little control over their work (i.e., those who have job strain) are at a greater risk of becoming ill than are workers with low psychological demands and a high degree of control in their occupation (i.e., those with low-strain occupations).”
Akizumi Tsutsumi, M.D., of the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Fukuoka, Japan, and colleagues studied 6,553 Japanese workers (3,190 men and 3,363 women, age 65 and younger) who completed an initial questionnaire and physical examination between 1992 and 1995. The workers were followed up annually through phone calls, letters and interviews for an average of 11 years.
Study Helps Explain Connection Between Sleep Apnea, Stroke and Death
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Obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain and eventually harms the brain’s ability to modulate these changes and prevent damage to itself, according to a new study published by The American Physiological Society. The findings may help explain why people with sleep apnea are more likely to suffer strokes and to die in their sleep.
Sleep apnea is the most commonly diagnosed condition amongst sleep-related breathing disorders and can lead to debilitating and sometimes fatal consequences for the 18 million Americans who have been diagnosed with the disorder. This study identifies a mechanism behind stroke in these patients.
The study, “Impaired cerebral autoregulation in obstructive sleep apnea” was carried out by Fred Urbano, Francoise Roux, Joseph Schindler and Vahid Mohsenin, all of the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. It appears in the current issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Study finds favorable trends in stroke
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Fewer people are suffering stroke and fewer people are dying from stroke, new research from Sweden hints.
To varying degrees, there have been improvements in the incidence of stroke and in stroke deaths among both diabetic and non-diabetic adults, Dr. Aslak Rautio and colleagues from Umea University report in the journal Stroke.
The researchers used data from a Swedish stroke registry to compare time trends in incidence, case-fatality, and death in stroke patients with or without diabetes. All strokes in patients 35 to 74 years old were registered from January 1, 1985, and December 31, 2003.
High-dose supplements may improve stroke rehab
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People who are undernourished after suffering a stroke benefit from intensive dietary supplementation during rehabilitation, according to results of a pilot study conducted at the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in New York.
Dr. M. H. Rabadi, currently at the VA Medical Center in Oklahoma City, and associates compared intensive and routine nutritional supplementation in 102 undernourished patients admitted within 4 weeks of having a stroke. All had unintentionally lost at least 2.5 percent of their body weight.
The “standard” supplement was Resource Standard, containing 127 calories, 5 grams of protein, and 36 milligrams of vitamin C per dose; the “intensive” supplement was Novasource 2.0 containing 240 calories, 11 grams of protein, and 90 milligrams of vitamin C per dose. Both supplements, made by Novartis Pharmaceuticals, were given every 8 hours along with multivitamins with minerals, in addition to the normal diet.
Physical activity may lessen stroke severity
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How active a person is before having a stroke predicts how severe the stroke will be and how well he or she recovers, Danish researchers have found.
Dr. Lars-Henrik Krarup, from Copenhagen University Hospital, and colleagues looked at 265 people who had suffered a first stroke. After factoring in age, history of diabetes and other conditions, those patients with high pre-stroke physical activity scores were more likely to have a less severe stroke, the team reports in the medical journal Neurology.
Likewise, the outcome after two years was substantially better in patients in the highest ranking for physical activity.
Stroke Onset Needs to be Treated Like the Emergency Situation It Is
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Technology Can Reverse the Effects of Some Strokes, but Stroke Onset Needs to be Treated Like the Emergency Situation It Is
Thanks to clot-busting drugs, new devices and minimally invasive procedures, patients experiencing the onset of a stroke have improved chances of surviving with fewer – or even no – long-term disabilities. Still, more than two-thirds of survivors will have some type of disability, according to the National Stroke Association. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in America and the number one cause of adult disability.
According to Michael J. Alexander, M.D., director of the Neurovascular Center and director of endovascular neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a good outcome depends on several factors, but nothing is more important than responding quickly and receiving care at a center that is equipped to offer the latest interventions.
Earlier this year, Cedars-Sinai became the first medical center in California to use a new clot-retrieval device for patients with acute stroke. The catheter-delivered Penumbra System received Food and Drug Administration approval in late December 2007 and has been available at Cedars-Sinai since mid-January.
Healthy lifestyle cuts stroke risk: study
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A person’s odds of suffering a stroke might be significantly reduced by maintaining an overall healthy lifestyle, which includes not smoking, exercising daily, consuming a healthy diet, drinking alcohol in moderation and maintaining a healthy weight, according to a study released today.
In the study, people with these five healthy lifestyle habits had about an 80 percent lower risk of ischemic stroke compared to people with none of the healthy habits. An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain becomes blocked; it is the most common type of stroke.
This study shows that a “low-risk” lifestyle recommended to lower the risk of multiple chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease, may also help ward off stroke, the study team notes in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Depression linked with first stroke in elderly
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The results of a study in the current issue of the journal Stroke suggest that there is an association between depression and an increased risk of having a first stroke in elderly patients.
“It has long been noted that depression is common after stroke and that depression is associated with increased mortality in patients with stroke,” Dr. Ingmar Skoog, of Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Molndal, Sweden, and colleagues write. During the last decade, they add, published reports have suggested that depression may actually contribute to stroke risk.
The current study involved 401 stroke-free 85-year-olds who were participants in the Longitudinal Gerontological and Geriatric Population Studies in Goteborg. At study entry 72 were demented and 329 were dementia-free. The subjects were followed for 3 years and information was obtained from the Swedish Hospital Discharge Register, death certificates, self-reports, and key informants.
Beijing pollution may trigger heart attacks, strokes
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Olympic athletes aren’t the only ones who need to be concerned about the heavily polluted air in Beijing. The dirty air may trigger serious cardiovascular problems for some spectators.
Two researchers in pulmonary medicine and critical care at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine warn that for people in certain risk groups, breathing high levels of pollution can cause heart attacks and strokes within 24 hours of exposure and increase the possibility of having blood clots in their legs on the plane home.
The people who are vulnerable include those who already have known cardiovascular disease or risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, lung disease, a current smoking habit or a family member diagnosed with heart disease before age 55.
Thousands of Children Die of Strokes Each Year
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Sideria Hendricks is only 10 years old, but she already has suffered two strokes.
The first occurred on Christmas Eve a few years ago. Sideria suddenly couldn’t speak, and her left arm and left leg went limp. She eventually recovered, but later suffered a second minor stroke.
Sideria has sickle cell disease, which is among the more than 100 risk factors for strokes in babies, children and young adults, said Dr. Jose Biller, chairman of the department of neurology at Loyola University Health System, who is treating Sideria. Although strokes are among the top ten causes of death in childhood, family members and doctors often are slow to recognize the symptoms.
Falls a risk after stroke survivors leave hospital
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During the 6-month period following a stroke, falls are common and often result in injury requiring medical treatment, according to surveys of more than 1000 stroke survivors in New Zealand.
Once stroke patients leave the hospital, their risk of falling is double that of people who haven’t had a stroke, Dr. Ngaire Kerse of the University of Auckland told Reuters Health.
“Fall prevention should be part of stroke rehabilitation,” she stressed.
