Regional health units are taking steps to improve stroke-related care in Leeds-Grenville and continuing efforts to make Brockville General Hospital a centre of concentrated excellence, said Mayor David Henderson, himself a victim of strokes. A recent report by the Heart and Stroke Foundation reveals that although stroke rates have declined in the last 60 years, treatment will soon be challenged by an aging population and an increase in the number of younger stroke victims. With an estimated 50,000 strokes every year - or one every 10 minutes in Canada - health-care specialists in Brockville may be asking: Are we adequately prepared? As honorary chairman of the local Heart and Stroke Foundation - with an added history of personal health complications - Henderson is an advocate for stroke awareness and grassroots programs in the city aimed at preventing problems before they occur. These problems are mostly related to healthy active lifestyles, and that means we in the community have to facilitate that, Henderson said. It means we have to work on our bike paths and walking paths to encourage walking, cycling and playing, he added. Following Henderson's emergency surgery for a cranial aneurysm that caused a series of mini-strokes in 2012, … Continue reading →

selfie Linda Carroll TODAY contributor June 19, 2014 at 10:29 AM ET If youve ever had trouble convincing a doctor that you really are sick, youll have no trouble understanding what happened to Stacey Yepes, who finally made her point with a selfie video. Yepes, 49, clearly remembers that day in March when her left side went numb and her speech started to slur. Every public service announcement Id ever seen kept flashing through my brain, she said. I thought, you just had a stroke. But then I thought Im just 48, I cant be having a stroke. The bizarre feelings passed within 10 minutes and Yepes headed for the emergency room. But after examining her, doctors there told her it was just stress and she should practice breathing techniques. On the way to her car, Yepes once again had the same strange symptoms. Once again they passed quickly. She considered going back to the ER, but figured theyd just tell her the same thing. The next day as she was driving her car, she started to feel tingly again as her her left side went numb. I pulled the car over and took a video, Yepes says. I could … Continue reading →

Anthony L. Komaroff Universal Uclick DEAR DOCTOR K: What are the warning signs of stroke? Why is it important to be able to recognizethem? DEAR READER: Nothing makes me sadder than to see someone suffer a stroke that could have been avoided. Not all strokes can be avoided, but many produce warning symptoms that can trigger preventive actions if they arerecognized. A stroke occurs when an injury to a blood vessel deprives a part of the brain of its constant blood supply. As a result, brain cells can die, taking with them the ability to move, speak, feel orthink. If the brain You have viewed 20 free articles or blogs allowed within a 30-day period. FREE registration is now required for uninterrupted access. S-R Media, The Spokesman-Review and Spokesman.com are happy to assist you. Contact Customer Service by email or call 800-338-8801 DEAR DOCTOR K: What are the warning signs of stroke? Why is it important to be able to recognizethem? DEAR READER: Nothing makes me sadder than to see someone suffer a stroke that could have been avoided. Not all strokes can be avoided, but many produce warning symptoms that can trigger preventive actions if they arerecognized. A stroke … Continue reading →

University of Minnesota researchers will take part in a national effort to find new stroke prevention, treatment and recovery methods. This summer, the University will begin its work with the National Institutes of Healths StrokeNet a network of 25 institutions nationwide focused on stroke research after recently receiving funding for research and the training of stroke clinical researchers. The purpose of this network is to really create an infrastructure, a tool, to run these high-impact clinical trials, said Mustapha Ezzeddine, associate professor in the Department of Neurology and principal investigator for StrokeNet at the University. Each of the institutions will receive a one-time $200,000 grant from theNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for research costs and will get more funding as the trials start up. Theyll also receive $50,000 each year for three years for training new clinical researchers. The institutions will share the data they collect among themselves in an effort to speed up research and cut costs. It has been six months since StrokeNet began, but its first national meeting was earlier this month. There, it was decided which existing NIH stroke clinical trials would continue and what institutions would conduct them. Before the national meeting, the … Continue reading →

A Swedish company, Medfield Diagnostics, has developed a cap which is lined with antennae that sends mobile phone-type microwaves through the scalp. The device, called Strokefinder, is placed on the patient's head where it examines the brain tissue by using microwaves. The signals are interpreted by the system to determine if the stroke is caused by a blood clot or bleeding. Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sahlgrenska Academy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden, conducted a trial on 45 patients. The trial revealed that the Strokefinder achieves great certainty in its findings, the Engineering in Medicine & Biology Societys journal reported. "The results of this study show that we will be able to increase the number of stroke patients who receive optimal treatment when the instrument makes a diagnosis already in the ambulance," says Mikael Persson, professor of biomedical engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. "The possibility to rule out bleeding already in the ambulance is a major achievement that will be of great benefit in acute stroke care. Equally exciting is the potential application in trauma care." The initial patient studies have been performed inside hospitals, and this autumn, the research groups at Chalmers and Sahlgrenska Academy … Continue reading →