The theme for the World Stroke Day 2009 is “Stroke, what can I do?”

Strokes. People have heard of them. Many think they know what they are. Many don’t know the signs of a stroke. Are you at risk of having a stroke? Would you know if you or someone else was having a stroke?
The World Stroke Organization is encouraging everyone to become more aware of strokes and to help prevent the disability and death that so often occur after a stroke.

The World Stroke Organization (WSO) was created on October 29, 2006, at the Regional World Stroke Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, when the International Stroke Society and the World Stroke Federation merged into a single organization. Since then, to commemorate its conception,the World Stroke Day is held on October 29.
According to their website:
Worldwide, stroke accounts for 5.7 million deaths each year and …read more

What happens after you’ve had a stroke? Yesterday, I wrote about 5 signs that you may be having a stroke. But what about afterwards, when you need to work on recovering from the effects?
The long-lasting effects from a stroke can be very mild to very severe. It all depends on where the damage was done in the brain, if it was minor or severe, how long it took to get treatment if treatment is available, and if any other medical issues came up at the same time or during the recovery.
To get an idea of what is involved in recovering …read more

We’ve known for a long time that high blood pressure and strokes hit African Americans much more often and frequently harder than whites. With all the studies and research going on, there is an anticipation that we should be making progess in dealing with this.
The facts are:

African Americans are twice as likely to die from stroke as whites
First strokes in African Americans are almost twice of whites
African American men, aged 45 to 54 years old, have 3 x a higher risk of having an ischemic stroke (brain tissue deprived of nutrients) than their white counterparts

A new study from the University …read more

The life expectancy in Japan is one of the highest in the world. The Japanese people and their children were never obese until western food was introduced into their country.
On the island of Okinawa the people live a very long and healthy life. The history of the island shows that chronic diseases are practically non-existent. Their elderly do not suffer from dementia, heart attacks or strokes and cancer is almost unheard of.
Along with a much healthier diet the Japanese people drink green tea as their drink of choice, because of the powerful antioxidants it contains.
Drinking green tea puts the Japanese …read more

From 1999 to 2006 the death rate of heart attacks and strokes fell about 30%. A cardiologist from UCLA said this is one of the outstanding achievements of modern history.
Even with this amazing news, the death count for Americans in 2006 from heart attacks and strokes was still at 829,072.
On an average one American dies from heart disease every 37 seconds.
A study on cholesterol levels in men men over 40 and women over 60 showed a 2% improvement. The same study showed no improvement in younger people.
We also have a rise in children with high cholesterol, due to their …read more

The maker of Vioxx has agreed to pay $4.85bn to settle legal claims that the controversial drug caused many users to suffer strokes and heart failure.
Holy Potatoes is what I have to say. But I guess it could have been far worse when you really stop and think about it. In order to qualify for compensation you must prove that you suffered serious illness at the most 2 weeks after you purchased the drug.
The above amount of money will be able to settle over 90% of Vioxx lawsuits with the exception of class action suits. Like I said, it could …read more

Scientists have long reported that deaths from lung diseases, heart attacks and strokes are significantly higher on days with high pollution levels, the newspaper said.
This was reported out of Los Angeles, imagine that. A US study has shown the exposure to diesel exhaust can cause heart disease in people with high cholesterol. Hmm… Can’t anything trigger a heart attack in people with extremely high cholesterol?
This is why you always have to take research with a grain of salt. True diesel exhaust has been linked to lung cancer and asthma attacks, as well as DNA damage, but this …read more