Trial Shows Blockbuster Potential for Blood Clot Pill

An experimental pill to prevent blood clots exceeded already high expectations as a better therapy for millions of people with atrial fibrillation, according to final results of a worldwide study released Sunday.
The study was featured at the European Society of Cardiology in Paris and simultaneously published on the Web site of The New England Journal of Medicine.
“It’s a remarkable achievement,” said Dr. Valentin Fuster, a past president of American and world heart associations, who was not involved with the trial. “This is one of the most significant advances in cardiovascular medicine in the last five years, no question,” Dr. Fuster, chairman of federal and medical panels on atrial fibrillation and director of the heart center at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, said in an interview..... 

http://nyti.ms/qeKHAh 

Empathy can limit stroke-related frustration

Imagine your thoughts directing your brain to communicate a desire, idea or command, but your mouth won't speak the words and your hands won't write the correct letters.

Now, if you are born this way, there are methods to teach a baby how to compensate for this handicap.

But, what if, in an instant, you are deprived of the ability to communicate and the world is indifferent to your plight?

This is exactly what happened to my mom. Last July, in the dark loneliness of the night, she suffered a small stroke, which abruptly altered her ability to communicate...... http://bit.ly/ns52rw

Potassium-rich diet tied to lower stroke risk

(Reuters Health) - People who eat plenty of high-potassium fruits, vegetables and dairy products may be less likely to suffer a stroke than those who get little of the mineral, a new study suggests.
The findings, reported in the journal Stroke, come from an analysis of 10 international studies involving more than 200,000 middle-aged and older adults.
Researchers found that across those studies, stroke risk dipped as people's reported potassium intake went up. For each 1,000-milligram (mg) increase in daily potassium, the odds of suffering a stroke in the next five to 14 years declined by 11 percent.
That would translate into a modest benefit for any one person, the researchers say. And the findings do not prove that potassium, itself, is what produces the positive effect.
But they strengthen existing evidence that it might, said lead researcher Susanna C. Larsson, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
Since high-potassium foods are generally healt.....

http://reut.rs/nVS4rl

Body & Mind - HEALTH Lung Cancer Linked to Risk of Stroke

Heart ECG

iStock

People recently diagnosed with lung cancer are at higher risk of having a stroke than those without lung tumors, suggests a large new study from Taiwan.

Researchers looking at data covering more than 150,000 adults found that among those with lung cancer, 26 in every 1000 experienced a stroke each year, compared with 17 in 1000 who did not have cancer.

"This is one more telling sign of the long term risk of smoking," said Dr. Andrew Russman, a stroke specialist at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, who was not part of the study.

The Taiwanese researchers didn't factor in lifestyle issues, such as smoking, drinking or diet, that might influence stroke risk, explained senior author, Dr. Fung-Chang Sung of the China Medical University, to Reuters Health in an email.

Still, they report in the journal Stroke, that stroke risk was highest during the first three months after lung cancer diagnosis for men and during the first four-to-six months for women. Risk decreased in men after one year and after two years in women.

They also found that a less common type of stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, caused by sudden bleeding into the brain, occurred more often among the lung cancer patients than ischemic stroke, which is usually caused by a clot blocking blood flow to brain tissue.

Some evidence suggests that excessive bleeding and blood clots, both of wh

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/22/lung-cancer-linked-to-risk-stroke/#ixzz1ZAipi0NF
http://fxn.ws/oHwUbH

George Seldes Recounts Meeting V.I. Lenin

Depression tied to higher risk for stroke

People who are depressed are at greater risk for suffering a stroke, a new study indicates.

Having other medical conditions that are also risk factors for stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure could be one of the reasons for the link between depression and stroke.

Hemera Technologies, www.jupiterimages.com

Having other medical conditions that are also risk factors for stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure could be one of the reasons for the link between depression and stroke.

Enlarge

Hemera Technologies, www.jupiterimages.com

Having other medical conditions that are also risk factors for stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure could be one of the reasons for the link between depression and stroke.
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Harvard researchers pointed out that the findings could have a significant impact on public health since stroke is a leading cause of death and permanent disability.

Researchers analyzed 28 previous studies, which involved a total of almost 318,000 people and 8,478 stroke cases. The investigators found that depression was associated with a 45 percent increased risk for stroke and a 55 percent raised risk for fatal stroke.

The study, published in the Sept. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, also .... http://usat.ly/p9gMNF

Study Is Ended as a Stent Fails to Stop Strokes

A promising but expensive device to prop open blocked arteries in the brain in the hope of preventing disabling or fatal strokes failed in a rigorous study, researchers reported on Wednesday. Those who got the device actually had so many more strokes than those assigned to control risk factors, like blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes, that the study was abruptly terminated.



The Food and Drug Administration approved the device six years ago on the basis of a humanitarian exemption, which did not require solid evidence that it would prevent strokes. Thousands of patients got the devices since then, according to the study’s lead researcher. The finding that the devices actually more than doubled the rate of stroke or death raised serious questions about whether the F.D.A.’s procedures for approving such a medical device ended up putting patients at risk.

http://nyti.ms/nbcYEC