Stroke

Low-dose ‘pill’ may have less stroke risk for young women

Newer, low-dose birth control pills seem to carry less stroke risk than high-dose pills for young women, but should be prescribed with care, according to an Australian study published in today’s rapid access issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. The oral contraceptive pill (OCP) was introduced in the 1960s and, nearly simultaneously, researchers raised the possibility that it might induce stroke, says lead author Sasitorn Siritho, M.D. She conducted the study while a visiting research fellow at the National Stroke Research Institute, Austin & Repatriation Medical Centre in West Heidelberg, Australia.

Combined hormone replacement therapy boosts stroke, dementia

Last March, a multi-center national study made headlines by concluding that taking a combination of the hormones estrogen and progestin did not improve the quality of life for women who are free of menopause-related symptoms but did expose them to a slightly higher risk of heart attacks, strokes and breast cancer. For that reason, many medical scientists began recommending against the combined therapy in the absence of such symptoms, saying the risks of estrogen plus progestin outweighed the benefits.

Drug may work on secondary clots in stroke

Many stroke patients can be treated with clot-busting drugs to reduce their chances of death and disability. But for some patients, the treatment is unsuccessful because the clots reappear soon after treatment. Now researchers have identified a drug that can break up those secondary clots, according to a study in the May 27 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

New imaging method accurately detects stroke

Diffusion-weighted MR imaging is an accurate way to detect whether a patient has had a stroke–even 24 hours after the patient’s initial symptoms began, a new study shows. The study, the largest of its kind, found that diffusion-weighted MR imaging was about 90 percent accurate in diagnosing stroke, says Mark Mullins, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Mullins was the lead author of the study. Diffusion-weighted MR imaging was 91% accurate if the test was done 0-6 hours after the patient first began having symptoms; accuracy was 89% at 6-12 hours, then 90% at 12-24 hours, says Dr. Mullins.

Inflammation marker signals stroke risk in healthy middle-aged men

High levels of the inflammation marker C-reactive protein (CRP) in healthy, middle-aged men signals an increased risk of ischemic stroke in later life, according to a 20-year follow-up study reported in today’s rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. In this study, men with few cardiovascular risk factors but with the highest CRP levels studied had a 3.8-fold increased incidence of stroke in 10 to 15 years compared to men with the lowest levels, says lead author J. David Curb, M.D., of the Pacific Health Research Institute and the Department of Geriatric Medicine and Medicine at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.

New treatment results in less brain damage following stroke

Stroke patients will be welcoming the news of a discovery by a University of Alberta scientist that may have significant future implications for treatment of the disease. Dr. Fred Colbourne, from the Faculty of Science, has shown that a novel rehabilitation regimen has proven remarkably effective in promoting recovery in hemorrhagic stroke–or ruptured blood vessels–in rats.

Smoking stokes risk for bleeding strokes

Men who smoke increase their risk for hemorrhagic stroke every time they light up, and smoking more than a pack of cigarettes a day doubles their risk compared to nonsmokers or men who’ve kicked the habit, according to a long-term prospective study reported in today’s rapid access issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Smoking women triple stroke threat if spouse lights up too

Women already at risk of having a stroke because they smoke cigarettes increase their stroke risk three-fold if they live with a spouse who smokes, a study conducted at the University at Buffalo has shown. The overall increase in risk of developing any form of stroke was more than three-fold in this group. On the other hand, non-smoking women whose spouses smoked did not show an increase risk of stroke.

Combination hormone therapy raises women's stroke risk

Combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increased the risk of stroke for postmenopausal women of all ages, whether or not they had hypertension. Researchers reported these findings, which are based on women studied in the Women’s Health Initiative, today at the American Stroke Association’s 28th International Stroke Conference. Information on subgroup analysis by age, race, hypertension status and baseline risk were not detailed when this major hormone study was halted last summer. “Estrogen plus progestin increased the risk of stroke in older and younger postmenopausal women, in those with and without high blood pressure and in those with no prior history of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Our finding is that this is absolutely not a strategy for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.”

Ginseng may improve memory in stroke dementia patients

A small study showed that a ginseng compound improved memory scores of people suffering from stroke-induced dementia, Chinese researchers reported today at the American Stroke Association’s 28th International Stroke Conference. The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association. Researchers caution that larger clinical trials are needed to establish the efficacy and safety of the compound. Memory loss, or dementia, may occur after stroke and is a growing problem in China, says lead researcher Jinzhou Tian, M.D., a professor in the Department of Care of the Elderly at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Dongzhimen Hospital in Beijing, China.

Baby and coated aspirin may not reduce risk of stroke

The majority of patients who take baby or coated aspirin to prevent strokes are not getting the blood-thinning results they may need to help avoid these health threats, according to preliminary research presented today at the American Stroke Association’s 28th International Stroke Conference. The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association. “While research has established that aspirin reduces the risk of stroke in patients with cerebrovascular disease, the optimal dose and formulation still remains somewhat unclear,” according to Mark Alberts, M.D., the study’s lead author and director of the Stroke Program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “This study is significant in that it points researchers in the right direction ? showing how we can maximize the effectiveness of aspirin.”