Free Republic

Several new studies point to the promise of new ways to treat different types of stroke. The research was presented during a teleconference Friday at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in New Orleans. The first trial found some benefit when tPA, the only approved therapy for acute ischemic stroke, was given outside the usual three-hour treatment window. Patients in this Australian trial who were given tPA three to six hours after having a stroke had increased restoration of blood flow and a smaller area of the brain was deprived of blood. The study was expected to be published...

AP Medical Writer Strokes have tripled in recent years among middle-aged women in the U.S., an alarming trend doctors blame on the obesity epidemic. Nearly 2 percent of women ages 35 to 54 reported suffering a stroke in the most recent federal health survey, from 1999 to 2004. Only about half a percent did in the previous survey, from 1988 to 1994. The percentage is small because most strokes occur in older people. But the sudden spike in middle age and the reasons behind it are ominous, doctors said in research presented Wednesday at a medical conference. It happened even...

Transplanting brain cells produced from human embryonic stem cells helped fix stroke damage in the brains of rats, according to scientists who hope to test the same thing in people within about five years. Researchers have been looking for ways to repair the brain damage from a stroke, which can cause permanent disability. In a study published on Tuesday, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine in California reported that treatment involving human embryonic stem cells may be a solution. The transplanted cells helped repair the stroke damage and enabled the rats to recover lost function in front legs weakened...

ORLANDO — Vitamin E has finally fulfilled its promise as an antioxidant that can slow the progression of cardiovascular disease. Patients with diabetes who also had the haptoglobin 2–2 genotype and who were treated with 400 IU of vitamin E daily for 18 months had about half the incidence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke, compared with patients who received placebo in a study with 1,434 patients that was done in Israel, Dr. Shany Blum reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association. Further analysis showed that the benefit was concentrated in patients with poorly controlled...

Flu doubles risk of heart attack and stroke By Nic Fleming, Medical Correspondent Last Updated: 3:01am GMT 06/12/2007 A bout of flu doubles the immediate risk of having a heart attack or stroke, a groundbreaking study has found. Sufferers are four times more likely to be affected within three days of falling ill with the flu and are at double the risk for up to a week, according to the study of two million people. More than 15 million flu jabs will be given to elderly and vulnerable patients in the next two months Flu dislodges fatty deposits that build...

The identification of a new marker is making it possible to track brain stem cells for the first time, U.S. researchers report. The achievement is already opening doors to new research into depression, early childhood development and multiple sclerosis, the team's senior author said. "This is a way to detect these cells in the brain, so that you can track them in certain conditions where we suspect that these cells play a certain role," explained Dr. Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, an assistant professor of neurology at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. "This is also very applicable for situations where...

Continuous-Use Contraceptives to be Introduced in Britain Within Months By Hilary White LONDON, September 27, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The first contraceptive pill that provides a dose of active hormones every day that would halt menstruation, could be in use in Britain within a few months, according to the New Scientist. The drug, called Lybrel, is lauded for its ability to interrupt a woman’s normal fertility cycle and entirely stop her menstruation, potentially permanently. Its supporters say that once freed from their normal biological functions, women will be better able to compete with men in the workplace. The US Food and...

TOLEDO -- A golf outing for politicians left some embarrassed after they found out strippers were handing out drinks at the event. Days after the annual event, members of the Lucas County Democratic Party are calling for John Irish to resign and to clear the party's name. One participant said he saw a woman flash a group of golfers. Others at the fundraiser for the Democratic fundraiser said they didn't see any inappropriate acts. "When the word got out that these girls are strippers, it gave the party a black eye," said Clerk of Courts Bernie Quilter. "Every elected official...

Dr. Diana Fite, a 53-year-old emergency medicine specialist in Houston, knew her blood pressure readings had been dangerously high for five years. But she convinced herself that those measurements, about 200 over 120, did not reflect her actual blood pressure. Anyway, she was too young to take medication. She would worry about her blood pressure when she got older. Then, at 9:30 the morning of June 7, Dr. Fite was driving, steering with her right hand, holding her cellphone in her left, when, for a split second, the right side of her body felt weak. “I said: ‘This is silly,...

When Richard Murray called his banking clients, his strong Birmingham accent heavily laced with a Hereford twang made him instantly recognisable. But a year ago, Richard, 30, had a stroke and lost the power of speech. Now he speaks with a heavy foreign accent. Some say his accent is definitely French, others are sure it is Eastern European or Italian. "Now when I call my clients and say 'It is me, Richard Murray', they say 'Who?'. They don't recognise my voice. "So now when I speak to people I preface it with: 'I have had a stroke and this is...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Bo Diddley is in intensive care after suffering a stroke in western Iowa, a publicist said Wednesday. The 78-year-old singer-songwriter-guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was listed in guarded condition at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Neb., said Susan Clary, a publicist for the musician's management team. Diddley, who has a history of hypertension and diabetes, was hospitalized Sunday following a concert in Council Bluffs in which he acted disoriented, she said. Tests indicated that the stroke affected the left side of his brain, impairing his speech and speech recognition, Clary said. Clary...

Jerusalem, 14 May (AKI) - The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was taken to hospital on Sunday after suffering a stroke, according to a report on the Palestinian news agency Maan, quoted by Israeli news site Ynet. The condition of the 65-year old leader is reported to be serious and family members have been arriving at the hospital, the report said.

Source: Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Date: May 13, 2007 Clues To 'Broken Heart Syndrome' Science Daily — The causes of "broken heart syndrome" remain a mystery, but doctors will soon have an easier time recognizing and treating this rare, life-threatening condition, thanks to new data. Researchers from Brown University in Providence, RI, have developed the largest registry of patients in the United States with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, informally known as broken heart syndrome because it is often preceded by an emotional or physical shock of some kind and almost always strikes women. One thing is certain: Patients are usually...

Amino acids: Key to a healthier heart? Could taking a few B vitamins cut your risk of a heart attack or a stroke? That's the suggestion from a study published last week in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).  The key is an amino acid called homocysteine, a substance made when the protein we eat is digested — already there is growing evidence to link it with cardiovascular disease, and even stroke. Homocysteine — with the help of the B vitamins including B12 and folate — is rapidly turned into other useful compounds such as the amino acids cysteine and...

Big 75 Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, celebrates three-quarters of a century of living today. (If it's any consolation, women overheard in Mr. Kennedy's company of late say the senator has never looked better. What is it about him and Bill Clinton?). "Sen. Kennedy began his career setting a high standard when it comes to birthdays," fellow Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry observes in a birthday tribute to his colleague. "It was when he reached the minimum constitutional age -- 30 -- that he first came to the Senate: 1 of just 16 senators elected at such a tender age...

Stroke of Good Fortune: A wealth of data from petrified lightning Sid Perkins The lumps of glass created when lightning strikes sandy ground can preserve information about ancient climate, new research indicates. BOLT FROM THE BLUE. When lightning strikes the ground, it fuses sand in the soil into tubular masses of glass called fulgurites (top). The gases trapped in bubbles in that glass (bottom) yield clues to ancient soil and atmospheric chemistry and climate. L. Carion/Carion Minerals, Paris; Navarro-González Worldwide, lightning flashes occur about 65 times per second. Each bolt releases as much energy as is stored in a quarter-ton...

Can drinking green tea really protect against two big killers, strokes and cancer? A huge study in Japan suggests yes and no: It might lower your stroke risk but won't save you from cancer. The study's authors say their findings might explain why the Japanese are less likely than Americans to die of heart disease and stroke. Even so, the answers aren't clear. Green tea has been researched a lot, and many of the studies have come up with conflicting results. Earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said an analysis found no credible scientific evidence to support...

Botox isn't just for helping get rid of wrinkles. There is a new use for it. Dr. Jay Adlersberg has more. If Botox can paralyze the muscles that cause wrinkles, how about using it for tight muscles in other places? That's what some doctors are doing to help patients with cerebral palsy and strokes. Botox is helping children and adults alike. Nine-year-old Andrew Carter is not afraid to fall. And he refuses to let cerebral palsy get the best of him. When Andrew would try to move, his muscles would fight him, jerking him around. It's a condition called spasticity....

Crave no more. Some smokers with damage to the insula (red) suddenly lose the urge to smoke. Credit: Naqvi et al., Science Cigarette smokers who suffer damage to a particular brain region often lose the urge to smoke, according to a new study. Although brain damage is hardly a recommended treatment for smokers who want to quit, researchers say the findings provide important insight into the biological basis of addictive behaviors. Previous research on addiction has implicated the insula, a brain region tucked into a deep fold in the cerebral cortex. In brain scans of cocaine addicts, for example, the...

AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON -- At least 120,000 Americans a year suffer strokes because of a common irregular heartbeat -- one that's on the rise, hard to treat and can shoot deadly blood clots straight to the brain. Now doctors are experimenting with a new way to prevent those brain attacks: a tiny device that seals off a little section of the jiggling heart where the clots form. If it works -- and a major study is under way -- the Watchman device might provide long-needed protection for thousands of people with atrial fibrillation, whose main hope now is a...