Stroke

Blocking the function of an enzyme in the brain with a specific kind of vitamin E can prevent nerve cells from dying after a stroke, new research suggests. In a study using mouse brain cells, scientists found that the tocotrienol form of vitamin E, an alternative to the popular drugstore supplement, stopped the enzyme from...

People with impaired mobility after a stroke soon may have a therapy that restores limb function long after the injury, if a supplemental protein works as well in humans as it does. Two new studies by UC Irvine biologists have found that a protein naturally occurring in humans restores...

Just three months of physical activity reaps heart health benefits for older adults with type 2 diabetes by improving the elasticity in their arteries -- reducing risk of heart disease and stroke, Dr. Kenneth Madden told the 2009 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the...

Polyphosphate from blood platelets plays a key role in inflammation and the formation of blood clots, scientists from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have shown. The study, which is presented in the scientific journal Cell, describes how this mechanism can be used in treatment.

Many scientists view atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, as a localized disease characterized by the build up of fatty plaques in the arteries, which can eventually cause heart attacks and strokes. Now, in a finding that challenges conventional knowledge, researchers in New York and North Carolina report that plaques formed in arteries are...

Human Genome Sciences (HGS) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced positive results from BLISS-76, the second of two large-scale phase III clinical trials of BENLYSTA™ (belimumab) for treating systemic lupus. A full presentation of results from BLISS-52 was recently shared at the 73rd Annual Scientific meeting of the American College of Rheumatology. Both trials succeeded in meeting their primary endpoints, which...

The latest issue of the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB) reports that the use of low-dose aspirin to protect against heart attacks and strokes in individuals yet to develop obvious cardiovascular disease, should be abandoned. Low-dose aspirin is widely used to prevent further episodes of cardiovascular disease in people who have already had problems such as a heart attack or stroke. This approach is known as secondary prevention. It is well established and of confirmed benefit....

Angina in the legs? Time to alert patients and physicians. Edmonton researchers recommend that people over age 40 be screened for peripheral artery disease (PAD), which puts people at high risk for serious medical complications including heart disease, stroke, and possible lower limb amputation. It contributes to thousands of deaths every year yet nobody knows for sure how many...

The gender difference between men and women is a lot smaller than we've been led to believe when it comes to heart attack symptoms, according to a new study presented to the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2009, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. "Both the media and some patient educational materials frequently suggest that women experience symptoms of a heart attack very differently from men," says...

A large study found strong evidence that older people who have age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are at increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), although not for stroke. This result adds to mounting evidence that AMD and cardiovascular disease may share some risk factors–smoking, high blood pressure, inflammatory indicators such as...

A diagnosis of cancer, diabetes — even cirrhosis or Parkinson’s disease — will send shivers down the spines of most people. But flu? We tend to view it as little more than an occasional feverish nuisance that sends us to bed with joint pain, congestion and nausea (or worse). What so many of us fail to appreciate is that flu can kill. Having filed a news story, yesterday, on concerns about the potential for development of resistance to the leading flu-fighting drug (Tamiflu), I was sensitized to influenza incidence data. From the World Health Organization...

How far you can reach beyond your toes from a sitting position – normally used to define the flexibility of a person’s body – may be an indicator of how stiff your arteries are. A study in the American Journal of Physiology has found that, among people 40 years old and older, performance on the sit-and-reach test could be used to assess the...