Posted by John Ager on 09 September 2011.

A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is blocked.  There are two types of strokes, ischemic and hemmoragic.  Ischemic strokes occur when an artery is blocked, usually by a plaque or a blood clot.  Hemmoragic strokes occur when an artery in the brain bursts and blood leaks into the brain.

The findings in two recent studies do not bode well for stroke patients.  The frist, a report published in the Annals of Neurology, shows that the rate of stroke in people aged 15-44 increased by nearly a third just from 1995 to 2008, an alarming increase in such a short time.  The increase in stroke rate is thought to be the result of increased rates of disease such as high blood pressure an diabetes in this population, both of which are  significant risk factors for stroke.   An unhealthy diet, smoking, and lack of exercise all contribute to these risks.

The second, a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that a device doctors hoped would be a major advance in the treatment of ischemic stroke actually caused more strokes than conventional treatment methods.  The device, approved for use in 2005, is similar to stents used to open coronary arteries in heart patients following angioplasty.  A tiny balloon is used to expand the obstructed artery in the brain and then an expanding mesh is inserted to hold it open.  Research was immediately halted once the adverse affects became clear.

While advances in preventative medicine do not always work out as planned, prevention is still the best medicine.  As a population, we need to take better care of ourselves in order to reduce the need for medical intervention both before and after strokes.