PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Head, neck injuries may increase stroke risk among trauma patients younger than 50

Abstract TMP66 (Room Hall G)

2014-02-14
(Press-News.org) Suffering an injury to the head or neck increases ischemic stroke risk three-fold among trauma patients younger than 50, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2014. "These findings are important because strokes after trauma might be preventable," said Christine Fox, M.D., M.A.S., lead author and assistant professor of neurology at the University of California San Francisco. Researchers studied the health records of 1.3 million patients younger than 50 years who had been treated in emergency trauma rooms. About 11 of every 100,000 patients (145) suffered a stroke within four weeks. Since 2 million patients are seen in U.S. trauma rooms each month, this suggests 214 young people a month have an ischemic stroke after a trauma. Researchers also noted that: About 48 in 100,000 young adults and 11 of 100,000 children who had a head or neck injury had a stroke. Patients with stroke were an average 37 years old, while those who didn't have a stroke were an average 24. One cause of stroke after trauma is a tear in the head or neck blood vessels that lead to the brain, which can be a source of blood clots that cause a stroke. If a tear in these arteries can be diagnosed at the time of the trauma, a patient could be treated with an anti-clotting medicine to help prevent stroke. In the study, 10 percent of the people who had a stroke were diagnosed with this kind of tear, but not all the patients were diagnosed with it prior to stroke. The incidence rate of stroke among trauma patients found in this study was determined using a fairly broad definition of trauma. One of the next steps in the study will be to measure stroke incidence after different types of trauma (such as car collisions) and injuries (such as vertebral fractures) in order to determine who might be at higher stroke risk, Fox said. INFORMATION: Note: Actual presentation is 5:40 p.m. PT Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014. (A video interview with an ASA expert is on the right column of this link.)

(This news tip is also part of a news conference at 8 a.m. PT Thursday, Feb. 13.) The news tip contains updated numbers not in the abstract. END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Hispanic stroke patients less likely to receive clot-busting drugs in

2014-02-14
Hispanic stroke patients admitted to hospitals in the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas were less likely than non-Hispanics in the same border states to receive clot-busting drugs and more likely to die, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2014. Researchers analyzed stroke care for Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients according to demographics and clinical characteristics in states bordering Mexico and states not on the Mexican border. They found: Of the nearly 35,000 Hispanic stroke ...

Stroke survivors often return to driving without being evaluated for ability

2014-02-14
Stroke survivors often resume driving without being formally evaluated for ability — though stroke can cause deficits that can impair driving, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2014. Researchers surveyed 162 stroke survivors a year after their strokes and found: More than 51 percent returned to driving — many a month after suffering a stroke. Only 5.6 percent received a formal driving evaluation. Eleven percent of those who returned to driving reported their strokes had greatly impacted their abilities ...

What makes the newborn immune system in the lungs different and vulnerable?

2014-02-14
Newborns are more susceptible to infections, presumably because of their immature and inexperienced immune systems. The most common dangerous condition in newborns and infants are lower respiratory tract infections caused by viruses, especially respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). A study published on February 13th in PLOS Pathogens shows how the immune system in the lungs during early life differs from the one in older children and adults. Ideally, newborns could be protected against RSV by vaccination, but it is known that the immune system in early life is less responsive ...

Intensive dialysis in pregnant women with kidney failure benefits mother and baby

2014-02-14
Washington, DC (February 13, 2014) — Intensive dialysis treatments in pregnant women with kidney failure lead to a higher proportion of live births than standard dialysis care, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings suggest that more frequent and longer dialysis sessions should be considered for dialysis patients of childbearing age who want to become pregnant or who are already pregnant. When young women develop advanced kidney disease, pregnancy becomes dangerous and often impossible ...

Wealthy neighborhoods fuel materialistic desires, study says

2014-02-14
SAN FRANCISCO -- Where you live could affect whether or not you spend compulsively, according to new research from San Francisco State University published today in the Journal of Consumer Culture. Individuals who live in wealthy neighborhoods are more likely to have materialistic values and poor spending habits, the study says, particularly if they are young, living in urban areas and relatively poor compared with their surroundings. The study is the first to show a connection between neighborhood socioeconomic status and materialism. The reason for the link, said ...

Science: Cortical convolutions controlled in sections

2014-02-14
Researchers have tied a particular gene to the development of cortical convolutions—the prominent but enigmatic folds covering the surface of the human brain. Their discovery should shed some light on these characteristic contours, which have been the subject of wild speculation for ages, and perhaps also provide a better understanding of how such brain ridges form, how they evolved from our pre-human ancestors and, ultimately, how they influence brain function. The exact role of cortical convolutions remains unknown, but theories have abounded. (Some, for example, have ...

Builder bots ditch blueprints for local cues

2014-02-14
This news release is available in Spanish, French, Arabic, Japanese and Chinese. "Termites are what inspired this whole research topic for us," said the study's lead author Justin Werfel, a researcher at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "We learned the incredible things these tiny insects can build and said: Fantastic. Now how do we create and program robots that work in similar ways but build what humans want?" Unlike humans, who require a high-level blueprint to build something complicated, termites can build ...

Stanford, NOAA scientists discover mechanism of crude oil heart toxicity

Stanford, NOAA scientists discover mechanism of crude oil heart toxicity
2014-02-14
Scientists from Stanford University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have discovered that crude oil interferes with fish heart cells. The toxic consequence is a slowed heart rate, reduced cardiac contractility and irregular heartbeats that can lead to cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death. The research, published in the Feb. 14 issue of Science, is part of the ongoing Natural Resource Damage Assessment of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. While crude oil is known to be cardiotoxic to developing fish, the physiological mechanisms ...

America's natural gas system is leaky and in need of a fix, new study finds

Americas natural gas system is leaky and in need of a fix, new study finds
2014-02-14
The first thorough comparison of evidence for natural gas system leaks confirms that organizations including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have underestimated U.S. methane emissions generally, as well as those from the natural gas industry specifically. Natural gas consists predominantly of methane. Even small leaks from the natural gas system are important because methane is a potent greenhouse gas – about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. A study, "Methane Leakage from North American Natural Gas Systems," published in the Feb. 14 issue of the journal ...

Interactive map of human genetic history revealed

2014-02-14
The interactive map, produced by researchers from Oxford University and UCL (University College London), details the histories of genetic mixing between each of the 95 populations across Europe, Africa, Asia and South America spanning the last four millennia. The study, published this week in Science, simultaneously identifies, dates and characterises genetic mixing between populations. To do this, the researchers developed sophisticated statistical methods to analyse the DNA of 1490 individuals in 95 populations around the world. The work was chiefly funded by the Wellcome ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Freeze-framing the cellular world to capture a fleeting moment of cellular activity

Computer hardware advance solves complex optimization problems

SOX2: a key player in prostate cancer progression and treatment resistance

Unlocking the potential of the non-coding genome for precision medicine

Chitinase-3-like protein 1: a novel biomarker for liver disease diagnosis and management

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Tip Sheet: August 22, 2025

Charisma Virtual Social Coaching named a finalist for Global Innovation Award

From the atmosphere to the abyss: Iron's role in Earth's climate history

US oil and gas air pollution causes unequal health impacts

Scientists reveal how microbes collaborate to consume potent greenhouse gas

UMass Amherst kinesiologist receives $2 million ‘outstanding researcher’ award from NIH

Wildfire peer review report for land Brandenburg, Germany, is now online

Wired by nature: Precision molecules for tomorrow's electronics

New study finds hidden body fat is linked to faster heart ageing

How a gift card could help speed up Alzheimer’s clinical research

Depression and anxiety symptoms in adults displaced by natural disasters

Cardiovascular health at the intersection of race and gender in Medicare fee for service

World’s first observation of the transverse Thomson effect

Powerful nodes for quantum networks

Mapping fat: How microfluidics and mass spectrometry reveal lipid landscapes in tiny worms

ATOX1 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma carcinogenesis via activation of the c-Myb/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway

Colibactin-producing E. coli linked to higher colorectal cancer risk in FAP patients

Animal protein not linked to higher mortality risk, study finds

Satellite insights into eutrophication trends on the Qinghai–Tibet plateau

Researchers develop an innovative method for large-scale analysis of metabolites in biological samples

Asteroid Bennu is a time capsule of materials bearing witness to its origin and transformation over billions of years

New AI model can help extend life and increase safety of electric vehicle batteries

Wildfires can raise local death rate by 67%, shows study on 2023 Hawaiʻi fires

Yogurt and hot spring bathing show a promising combination for gut health

Study explains how lymphoma rewires human genome

[Press-News.org] Head, neck injuries may increase stroke risk among trauma patients younger than 50
Abstract TMP66 (Room Hall G)