Battling Heart and Stroke

My husband and I watched “The Namesake” the other day and I remember that scene where the father Ashoke presented himself at the ER and had to stand in line for a long time, leading to his death due to a heart attack. Unfortunately, this scenario does not only happen in movies but in real life as well. In a  CVD news item last week, I cited that the average waiting time in an ER is almost an hour - 60 minutes which can make the difference between recovery and disability, between life and death.

This study reported in the journal Stroke looked at 15,117 stroke victims from 46 hospitals listed in the North Carolina Stroke Registry (January 2005 to April 2008) and the findings are as follows: More →

In a previous post, I’ve discussed about how lack of sleep can adversely affect women’s hearts much more than men’s.

In another study on sleep, too much or too little sleep seems to increase the risk of ischemic stroke among postmenopausal women.

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Every year, over 700,000 people in the US suffer from stroke. According to the American Stroke Association, stroke is the number 3 cause of mortality in the US, after heart diseases and different types of cancer.

Those who are lucky to survive this monster can end up with after effects that would include paralysis, speech or language impairment, vision problems, behavioural changes, and memory loss.

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Having problems with your hearing? Maybe it is time to check your stroke risk.

A nation-wide research study in Taiwan based on health insurance records indicates that sudden loss of hearing might be an early sign of risk to stroke. In fact, this symptom may be able to predict the actual stroke two years before it happens.

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When it comes to stroke rates, Europeans are way better off than Americans, according to a Dutch study.

The researchers looked at data from 2004 on 13,667 Americans and 30,120 Europeans from 11 countries. Their analysis shows that American men have 61% higher likelihood of suffering from stroke than their European counterparts. Also, American women were almost twice more likely to suffer from stroke than European women. This difference in stroke rates in the two sides of the Atlantic is most evident among the poor segment of the two regions’ population but less visible among the rich. More →

 Who said that life is always fair? The more you have, the less likely you are to die young. This is because those who have more money are less likely to suffer from stroke at an early age, according to a study by Dutch researchers recently published in the journal Stroke.

The study was part of the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study and looked at 20,000 adults in the US. Their results show that the risk of early stroke is much lower among wealthy Americans between 54 and 65 years of age. However, as soon as a person reaches the age of 65, money doesn`t make a difference anymore - stroke risk is the same, rich or poor.

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Two groups of stroke survivors. One group had robotic devices to assist them in walking again. The other group had physical therapists in attendance. Which group do you think performed better?

According to a study conducted by the University of Illinois in Chicago, stroke survivors seem to benefit more from therapist-assisted walking rehabilitation compared to those who underwent robotic devices-assisted therapy. More →

Musical artist, tenor, actor, stage performer, radio host, all these words describe Benjamin “BeBe” Winans. But why do we chose BeBe to be our May celebrity for Battling Heart and Stroke?

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CNN reports today 17 May 2008:

“Sen. Edward Kennedy was rushed to Cape Cod Hospital in Massachusetts Saturday morning, a well-informed, prominent Democratic source in that state told CNN. The source said the 76-year-old senator had “symptoms of a stroke.”

The latest update: More →