stroke tagged posts

Reductions in Atherogenic Lipids and Major Cardiovascular Events A Pooled Analysis of 10 ODYSSEY Trials Comparing Alirocumab With Control Credit: Imperial College London

Although previous studies have suggested lowering cholesterol levels may be associated with a lower risk of heart attack, recent evidence has questioned whether very low levels are beneficial.
In the latest study, led by scientists at Imperial College London, researchers analysed data from over 5,000 people taking part in cholesterol-lowering trials. These studies utilised a new therapy to reduce cholesterol to much lower levels than previously possible.

The scientists found that dropping cholesterol to the lowest level possible – to levels similar to those we were born with – reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke or fa...

Reparative Effects of Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist in Young And Aged/Co-Morbid Rodents After Cerebral Ischemia. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 2016; DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2016.11.013

A potential new drug reduces the number of brain cells destroyed by stroke and then helps to repair the damage. A reduction in blood flow to the brain caused by stroke is a major cause of death and disability, and there are few effective treatments. A team of scientists at The University of Manchester has now found that a potential new stroke drug not only works in rodents by limiting the death of existing brain cells but also by promoting neurogenesis.

This finding provides further support for the development of this anti-inflammatory drug, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra in short), as a new treat...

This is an atherosclerotic lesion. Such lesions can rupture and cause heart attacks and strokes. Credit: UVA School of Medicine

Gene helps prevent heart attack, stroke; may offer way to block effects of aging. A gene that scientific dogma insists is inactive in adults actually plays a vital role in preventing the underlying cause of most heart attacks and strokes, researchers at the Uni of Virginia School of Medicine have determined. “Finding a way to augment the expression of this gene in adult cells may have profound implications for promoting health and possibly reversing some of the detrimental effects with aging,” said Gary K. Owens, PhD, director of UVA’s Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center.

The gene, Oct4, plays a key role in the development of all living organisms, but s...

The N3A receptor, as modeled here by the UB researchers, may be silent under normal conditions, but can be reactivated through the unique site (in red) under acidic conditions, such as after a stroke or seizure.

Strokes, seizures, traumatic brain injury and schizophrenia: these conditions can cause persistent, widespread acidity around neurons in the brain. But exactly how that acidity affects brain function isn’t well understood. University at Buffalo researchers have begun to unravel some of the puzzle. They found that an elusive brain receptor may play an important role in the death of neurons from neurological diseases.

The UB researchers study a family of brain receptors that are critical to learning and memory, called NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors...