Nov 14, 2017
Standard guidelines for stroke treatment currently recommend clot removal only within six hours of stroke onset. But a milestone study with results published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that clot removal up to 24 hours after stroke led to significantly reduced disability for properly selected patients.
The international multi-center clinical study, known as the DAWN trial, randomly assigned 206 stroke victims who arrived at the hospital within six to 24 hours to either endovascular clot removal therapy, known as thrombectomy, or to standard medical therapy. (more…)
Nov 12, 2017
Picture a bare wire, without its regular plastic coating. It’s exposed to the elements and risks being degraded. And, without insulation, it may not conduct electricity as well as a coated wire. Now, imagine this wire is inside your brain.
That’s what happens in many diseases of the nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal cord injuries, stroke, neonatal brain injuries, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
Much like that bare wire, the nerve fibers in the brain lose their protective coating, called myelin, and become extremely vulnerable. This leaves the nerve cells exposed to their environment and reduces their ability to transmit signals quickly, resulting in impaired cognition, sensation, and movement. (more…)
Nov 9, 2017
Bo Norrving is a professor in neurology at Lund University, Sweden. He has authored more than 400 publications on clinical stroke research, including several seminal papers e.g. the Swedish Aspirin Low Dose Study, and the world’s largest study of stroke in the young. He is a founder of the Swedish Stroke Register (Riksstroke), the world’s 1st national stroke registry. He is a member of the advisory group for ICD 11 at WHO. He was the President of the World Stroke Organization (WSO) 2008-2012, and chairs the WSO Global Policy Committee. He is the editor-in-chief of the European Stroke Journal.
Having in mind that he was one of the editors of the important 2006 Helsingborg Declaration on European stroke strategies, the European Stroke Organisation and SAFE are proud and honored to have Prof. Norrving now coordinating a joint ESO and SAFE project called “Stroke Action Plan for Europe 2018-2030”.
Prof. Bo Norrving; Photo: Henrik Rosenqvist
SAFE: Stroke Support Organisations are only just beginning to be formed and to grow in quite a lot of countries; do you think that medics are fully aware of how important they are in influencing decision makers on allocations of funding and resources to things like stroke care, stroke research and public awareness? If not as aware what is ESO doing to encourage medics to aid the growth of SSO?
BN: I think the full importance is still not well recognized. There are many examples where the initiatives of SSOs have been critically important. It’s an important task for ESO to support formation of new SSOs and to support and collaborate with existing ones. ESO and SAFE have recently joined forces in several actions and projects (e.g. at the EU, the European Stroke Action Plan), and I am sure there will be many more in the future. (more…)
Nov 3, 2017
A new and exciting e-learning tool is being developed by SAFE to support Stroke Support Organisations around positive and effective stroke advocacy
The Stroke Alliance For Europe (SAFE) in partnership with the European Stroke Organisation (ESO) has begun to develop a new online e-learning tool for empowering stroke advocates from across Europe. The Stroke Support Organisation Faculty Tool (SSOFT) will help to build the capacity and capabilities of Stroke Support Organisations (SSOs) by developing their knowledge and understanding around how to build positive and effective advoacy campaigns for stroke prevention, diagnosis and treatment. (more…)
Nov 3, 2017
The 11th World Stroke Congress promises to attract acclaimed experts in stroke from around the world. The congress will showcase a cutting-edge educational and scientific experience, focusing on the latest developments in stroke prevention, acute management and restorative care after stroke.
This major Congress will be returning to North America for the first time in more than 12 years.
Canada has well-developed stroke care systems and has contributed to significant advances in stroke care through efforts in developing guidelines, clinical and health systems research. These efforts are ongoing and increasingly important in the face of an aging population and increased health care demands in Canada and around the world. (more…)
Nov 2, 2017
Researchers at Maastricht University Medical Center and Maastricht University have discovered why the brain is more sensitive to oxygen deprivation, or hypoxia, than other organs. Hypoxia caused by a stroke, for example, activates a specific mechanism that is protective in other organs but can be detrimental to the brain. ‘This discovery solves a long-standing mystery of the unique sensitivity of the brain to hypoxia,’ says head researcher and professor Harald Schmidt. The research results were published today in the leading scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). (more…)
Nov 1, 2017
Research needs to be the platform for action in the decision making and policy sphere- said Jon Barrick, SAFE President at the World Stroke Day event in Denmark, on 30th October 2017.
Please see here the full presentation from this event.
Oct 29, 2017
“WHAT IS YOUR REASON TO PREVENT STROKE?”
“One day we will be able to talk about a stroke and what it used to be and how we had a hand in stopping them.” – Brady Johnson, stroke survivor
Brussels, October 29, 2017: Good news is that stroke is preventable, with ten modifiable risk factors accounting for around 90% of the risk of stroke. Bad news is that we still largely fail to prevent it. On this World Stroke Day, we call upon Governments and health care system decision makers to implement population wide prevention strategies that address the biggest contributors to stroke- said Jon Barrick, SAFE President, adding that healthcare, researchers, stroke survivors and support organisations should all work together on developing and delivering effective national, regional and global stroke prevention strategies and campaigns. (more…)
Oct 27, 2017
Blood-thinning drugs not only reduce the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) but are also associated with a significant reduction in the risk of dementia, according to new research published in the European Heart Journal.
Among 444,106 patients with atrial fibrillation (an abnormal heart rhythm), those who were taking anticoagulant drugs to prevent blood clots at the start of the study had a 29% lower risk of developing dementia than patients who were not on anticoagulant treatment. When the researchers looked at what happened during the period of time that the patients continued to take the drugs, they found an even bigger, 48% reduction in the risk of dementia. (more…)
Oct 26, 2017
The average lifespan of African Americans is significantly shorter than white Americans, mostly because of heart disease and stroke, which contributed to more than two million years of life lost among African Americans between 1999 and 2010, according to a new scientific statement published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation. (more…)
