The cause of strokes in younger people remains largely a mystery. The cause of strokes in younger people remains largely a mystery. Twenty percent of strokes hit people under age 65, and the cause of many of those strokes remains a mystery. Having had a concussion or other traumatic brain injury might make the risk of a stroke more likely, a study says. Back in 2011, researchers in Taiwan had unearthed an association between traumatic brain injury and stroke by combing through hospital records. It's one of those "Oh, really?" findings that gets scientists itching to check it out themselves. Researchers at the University of Michigan and the VA Center for Clinical Management and Research took on the challenge. They dug through billing records from emergency rooms in California from 2005 to 2009. They found more than 436,000 people who had come to the ER with a traumatic brain injury. Those people were 30 percent more likely to have a stroke afterwards than people who hadn't had a traumatic brain injury. A little over one percent of them ended up having a stroke later on. The results were published online in the journal Neurology. The researchers found that people under … Continue reading →

NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J. & DSSELDORF, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Edge Therapeutics announced today positive preliminary results from the first human use of EG-1962, the Companys novel bioabsorbable nimodipine microparticle formulation for the prevention of delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI), a life-threatening complication of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), typically resulting from a ruptured brain aneurysm or traumatic brain injury. There are approximately 90,000 patients in North America and Europe who are at risk for DCI, most of whom would be candidates for EG-1962. Researchers at Heinrich-Heine-University Hospital in Dsseldorf, Germany conducted an open-label study to assess the safety and tolerability of EG-1962, which delivers therapeutic and sustained concentrations of nimodipine directly to the site of brain injury. Eleven patients were treated and 10 met pre-defined enrollment criteria, which included a low level of consciousness on admission to the emergency room and high hemorrhage volumes. Investigators found that there were no adverse events or other safety concerns related to EG-1962. Additionally, good clinical outcome, as measured by the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) 30 days after SAH, was observed in all 10 patients who met the enrollment criteria. Based on similar patients treated in past clinical studies, researchers would have expected approximately half of these patients to … Continue reading →

June 27, 2013 Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online People who suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) often have to learn to cope with physical or mental difficulties after the event. Now, a new study in the journal Neurology shows that they may also face double jeopardy from increased risk of stroke. Both stroke and traumatic brain injury are common, costly and leading causes of severe disability in adults, and approximately 20 percent of strokes occur in adults under age 65, said study author Dr. James F. Burke, a neurologist at the University of Michigan. A large proportion of stroke risk is unexplained, especially in the young, so if we can identify new risk factors, we have the potential to prevent more strokes and improve outcomes. In the study, researchers culled through five years of California hospital records for adults who either went to the emergency room or were admitted to a hospital for TBI or other trauma without brain injury. Almost 440,000 people with TBI were included in the study along with about 740,000 trauma victims who showed no signs of brain trauma. After an average of around 28 months, one percent of all those included in the … Continue reading →

By Barbara Bronson Gray HealthDay Reporter WEDNESDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- People who have a traumatic brain injury may be more likely to suffer a stroke, a large new study suggests. And while the chances of having a stroke are still small, incurring a traumatic brain injury (TBI) may be as big a risk factor as is high blood pressure, said study author Dr. James Burke. While stroke risk is usually tied to older adults, about 20 percent occur in those under 65, said Burke, a research fellow in the neurology department at the University of Michigan Medical School. "Stroke is not typically associated with young people, and why younger people have strokes is not well understood." But when younger adults do suffer a stroke, the effects can be daunting. Dr. John Volpi, co-director of the Eddy Scurlock Stroke Center in Houston, recalled a patient who had a minor bike accident and seemed just fine. But after just a few days, the man -- who was only 45 -- had a stroke. "It was a slow recovery, getting back to walking and talking, and because he was an ophthalmologist, it took him a long time to be able to … Continue reading →