Stroke News

The "polypill" containing three generic blood pressure medications and a statin dramatically reduced the risk of heart-related illness in people with no prior history of heart problems, according to clinical trial results.

Compared to participants with no depressive symptoms, those with scores of one to three had a 39% increased stroke risk. Those with scores of more than four had a 54% higher risk, after the researchers accounted for demographic factors.

If people consistently had higher blood pressure readings at night, but normal readings during the day, the risk of heart failure more than doubled. The researchers, writing in the journal Circulation, dubbed this a "riser pattern."

Stroke risk was 2.5 times higher among current smokers than in those who never smoked. There was no significant difference between past and never smokers.

The investigators found that just under 20% of Americans are within 15 minutes, by ambulance, of a stroke center capable of performing endovascular thrombectomy. Thirty percent are within 30 minutes.

The device, which is controlled with a smartphone, looks like a swim cap with multiple magnetic microstimulators attached. Study volunteers wore it for 40 minutes per session, and completed 20 sessions over four weeks.

Gum disease may be linked to higher rates of stroke caused by hardened and severely blocked arteries, preliminary research findings indicate.

Stroke survivors who had positive outlooks showed lower levels of inflammation, reduced stroke severity and fewer physical impairments after three months compared to more pessimistic stroke survivors, the researchers found.

He was one of the last surviving stars from Hollywood's golden age

They're also more likely to be hospitalized for a dangerously erratic heart rhythm, according to the second study.

A computer program trained to look for bleeding in the brain outperformed two of four certified radiologists, finding abnormalities in brain scans quickly and efficiently, the researchers reported.

Starting in the late 1980s, stroke rates among older Americans began to fall -- and the decline shows no signs of stopping, a new study finds.

One of every four people who has a stroke is younger than 65 years old. As many as 44% may be unable to return to work, largely because of difficulty walking, the study authors said.

In a study of women aged 40 to 60, those who suffered from "self-silencing" had an increased risk of having plaque in their carotid arteries.

Mixed aerobic exercise provided the greatest improvement, followed by walking, cycling and recumbent stepping -- a machine that allows stepping while in a seated position.

If you've already had one stroke, your risk for another is much higher.

The study found that the risk of suffering a stroke was heightened in the weeks and months after any infection that required a trip to the hospital. But urinary tract infections (UTIs) showed the strongest link.

The researchers found a strong association between working long hours and stroke risk, for men and women alike. The link seemed stronger for people under the age of 50.

The findings suggest that anti-clotting drugs reduce, rather than increase as feared, the chances of more bleeding in the brain, but more study is needed, researchers said.

A direct cause-and-effect link has not been established, but the Heart Association-Stroke Association statement recommends that health care providers tell patients of the risk before they have neck manipulation.

Acclaimed director John Singleton died from a stroke Monday, shortly after his family removed him from life support.

Researchers followed more than 500,000 people in China for a decade. Overall, it found that alcohol boosts stroke risk by about one-third for every four additional drinks a day.

New research found that healthy but severely obese patients who ate olive oil at least once a week had less platelet activation, which means their blood is less likely to clot -- which might help lower their risk of heart attack or stroke.

The researchers found that severely obese patients were 62 percent less likely to die afterward than patients of normal weight.

Actor Luke Perry, a star of Beverly Hills 90210 and Riverdale, died after he suffered a massive stroke.