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Israel: Ariel Sharon Near DeathBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyUPDATE 17:20: Four hour emergency operation on Prime Minister's Sharon was successful. Fifty centimeters of Sharon's upper intestine was removed. Doctors say that the major problem remains Sharon's lack of consciousness. Sharon, who entered surgery in critical condition, is now in stable but serious condition. Jerusalem-----February 11.......Israel has been praying for a miracle. For Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to wake up from a stroke induced coma, smile and tell us that we should not be worrying about his health. But on this sunny and cold day in Jerusalem, the news is...

Israel: Ariel Sharon Near DeathBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem-----February 11.......Israel has been praying for a miracle. For Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to wake up from a stroke induced coma, smile and tell us that we should not be worrying about his health. But on this sunny and cold day in Jerusalem, the news is not good. And most of Israel will not know that Sharon may be living his last hours until they switch on their TV or check their e-mail tonight. A hospital spokeswoman in Jerusalem has just stated that the Israel Prime Minister's "life is in danger."...

I've tried to never use vanity posts before until now and wanted some feedback. Here it goes. I woke this morning to the news that an old ex-roommate, sailing buddy, and close friend had died overnight on Monday. I just found out through his father, jst back from the coroners, that he died violently from a massive stroke. I'm trying to find out if there would have been any kind of drug use that might have helped cause it. He was a very active and seemingly healthy and normal 38 y/o. Being a loyal longtime deadhead, still seemed to like...

Stroke Brain Fix Stroke Hope If Ariel Sharon wakes up from his coma, he could still face a long and hard recovery from his stroke. With the help of extensive therapy, stroke sufferers can sometimes regain lost speech and movement. But research led by neurologist Wendy Kartje could spur stroke recovery by blocking a natural inhibitor of nerve cell re-growth. When a stroke occurs, blood flow to part of the brain is interrupted when a blood vessel becomes damaged or blocked. The blood normally brings oxygen and nutrients that the brain cells in the immediate area need to survive. Without...

The Doctor's World The life-threatening stroke that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered early this month has focused attention on the treatment of strokes, in particular the use of anticoagulants and clot-dissolving drugs. The use of such drugs is among the most potentially dangerous therapies in medicine and one of the most controversial. The full story of Mr. Sharon's case is not known because his family and doctors have released limited information. But questions have been raised about whether the drugs he received for a less severe stroke in December, caused by a blood clot, may have contributed to his...

JERUSALEM - Ariel Sharon's doctors faced new criticism Thursday for failing to divulge a brain disease discovered after the prime minister's initial stroke and for prescribing blood thinners that may have contributed to a massive second stroke. The criticism added to a growing chorus of questions about Sharon's treatment. Some experts, however, said there was no clear-cut answer. As Sharon lay comatose for an eighth day Thursday, a brain scan showed the remnants of the blood in his brain from a Jan. 4 stroke have been absorbed, hospital officials said in a statement. In response, doctors removed a tube they...

Please pray for my MIL. She is 88 years old and is very ill. She had a stroke on Dec 22 and spent 9 days in the hospital. She has been struggling for some quality of life ever since. She is on some many medications that we need a ledger to make sure that she takes theom all on time. She has no appetite and has bouts of naseau that are getting more and more severe as time goes by. We think that has either a drug interaction problem or has developing an intolerance for one of her meds. She...

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Doctors treating Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon say they will meet Sunday at Hadassah Hospital to discuss plans to reduce anesthesia so he can slowly wake up from a medically induced coma. Sharon's condition remains critical, but hospital director Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef said tests indicate his condition is stabilizing. Sharon suffered a major stroke on Wednesday. A recent CT scan shows "slight improvement" in Sharon's brain, which required three surgeries to treat bleeding and swelling, Mor-Yosef said. He explained that the swelling that occurred on the right side of Sharon's brain has decreased. (Full story) Doctors won't...

In an extraordinary attempt to save the life of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, doctors in Jerusalem operated twice on his brain for a total of nearly nine hours, then put him into an anesthesia-induced coma and connected him to a mechanical respirator, his medical team said yesterday. The measures were desperate and, experts agreed, unlikely to succeed, but they were about all that remained in the effort to save Mr. Sharon's life and to retain as much of his motor functions and intellectual skills as possible after the horrific hemorrhagic stroke he suffered Wednesday. It was Mr. Sharon's...

Israel Acting PM Olmert Speaks to Israel CabinetBy Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem----January 5.....The following was communicated by the Israel Government Press Office in regards to Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stay in hospital. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's stated at the start of the special Israel Government Cabinet meeting this morning: "Today, Thursday, we are holding an extraordinary Cabinet meeting in light of the state of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's health. At this time, we are all praying and full of hope for the Prime Minister's quick recovery. We are all closely monitoring developments in these difficult hours...

Israel Sharon Completes Second Operation, Condition "Severe"Sharon Has Severe Brain Damage, Survival Not ExpectedBy Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem----January 5.....It is a sunny day in Israel, but many of us are in tears after spending a sleepless night by the TV. Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has completed a second concurrent operation which has stopped the massive bleeding from which Sharon suffered from. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has assumed the powers of Israel Prime Minister and is now holding an emergency meeting of the Israel Cabinet. There is very little movement on the streets as the Jewish nation...

Israel Sharon Suffers Serious Stroke, Olmert in PowerSharon Is Fighting For His LifeBy Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem----January 5.....Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been rushed to hospital this evening suffering from a major stroke. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has now assumed the powers of Israel Prime Minister. The Jewish nation is watching the events unfold on Israel television and praying for Sharon's speedy recovery. A speedy recovery may not be realized as doctors and Israel TV are describing the situation as life threatening with Sharon presently undergoing an operation for a cerebral hemorrhage. There are reports that...

JERUSALEM (AP) The prime minister's office says Ariel Sharon has been rushed to a Jerusalem hospital after feeling ill.

University of Washington researchers have revealed that, in mice with atherosclerosis, it is the expression of an active form of the enzyme MMP-9, by macrophages located within plaque buildup in narrowed coronary arteries, that triggers plaque rupture. This rupture can cause blood clots and block blood flow to the heart and brain, causing a heart attack or stroke. The results appear online on December 22 in advance of print publication in the January 2006 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Atherosclerosis involves the slow buildup of fatty substances, cholesterol, collagen and elastin fibers, macrophages, and other molecules in the...

Hours before his stroke, supersized Israeli leader Ariel Sharon packed away an artery-clogging menu of burgers, steak in chimichurri sauce, lamb chops and shish kebab. For dessert, he had chocolate cake - and then some more cake, the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv reported. And then, a little later, he capped it all off with Chinese noodles. Still, perhaps miraculously some might say, he emerged from Sunday's stroke care relatively unscathed. Yesterday, he was lectured by both his doctors and President Bush to change his ways. But it may prove a task even more difficult than the Mideast peace process itself....

U.S. President George W. Bush told Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to eat less, work less and exercise more in a Tuesday phone call after Sharon's release from a Jerusalem hospital after treatment for a mild stroke, a government statement said. A pale but smiling Sharon was released from Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem on Tuesday morning, declaring that the incident would not have an impact on his work. Bush called to wish him well, and advised him, "be careful about food, start exercising and cut back on work hours," the statement said. The president also reportedly told Sharon that he...

'Neurointensive' Care Gains Adherents, Despite Risk Of Raising False Hopes 'Too Often, People Give Up' Devastating strokes on both sides of his head drove 31-year-old Mark Ragucci into a deep coma. As seizures swept through his brain like silent electrical storms, his gaze froze. His arms were paralyzed at his sides in a syndrome neurologists call man-in-the-barrel, signaling serious brain damage. The most likely fate for the patient was death or survival in a state of near-total disability, concluded Stephan A. Mayer, director of neurointensive care at Columbia University's medical center. "I really thought there was no hope" of a...

BOSTON (Reuters) - The common form of sleep apnea, in which the throat closes off throughout the night, at least doubles the risk of stroke or death, a study released on Wednesday showed. The researchers at Yale University also raised questions about whether existing apnea treatments reduced that risk, the study published in The New England Journal of Medicine showed. A separate Canadian study also published in the journal concluded that breathing machines used to treat a form of apnea common in people with heart failure do not prevent death or the need for a heart transplant. About 4 percent...

Beta blockers, the most commonly used drugs for treating high blood pressure unaccompanied by other cardiovascular disease, are probably less effective than other drugs used for the same purpose, new research says. The work examines the results of 13 randomized trials and concludes that the drugs, which have been the first-line treatment for hypertension for at least 25 years, produce a higher risk for stroke when compared with other drugs used for the same purpose. Dr. Lars H. Lindholm, the lead author on the study, which was published in Lancet online on Oct. 18 and in print on Saturday, emphasized...

A "FIRST-line" anti-high blood pressure drug is leaving patients at far greater risk of suffering strokes than if they take other medication for the condition, according to a major study. People taking the commonly prescribed beta-blockers had a 16 per cent higher chance of stroke than if they took other drugs to treat high blood pressure, according to the findings by Swedish researchers. One particular beta-blocker, atenolol, was found to be associated with a 26 per cent higher stroke risk. Medical experts warned yesterday that patients should not stop taking beta-blockers, which are beneficial for a range of other conditions....