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Most people know that high cholesterol levels place them at increased risk for heart disease and stroke. Prior research has shown that particular types of strokes contribute to one’s risk for depression, and that abnormal blood lipid levels can increase the risk of depression in the elderly. The findings are published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

You do not always need to build up a big sweat to reap the healing benefits of physical activity. Research has found that even a low-intense exercise program can reduce depression symptoms and boost physical therapy results in recovering stroke patients. “The power of physical activity to raise the spirits of recovering stroke patients is stronger than anyone suspected,” Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher Dr. Jocelyn Harris told Canadian Stroke Congress, co-hosted by the Canadian Stroke Network, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the Canadian Stroke Consortium.

An analysis of over 150,000 hospital discharges has revealed that there are significant insurance related differences in hospital mortality, length of stay, and costs among working-age Americans (age 18-64 years) hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke, or pneumonia. These three conditions are among the leading causes of non-cancer in-patient deaths in patients under 65 [...]

More than a quarter of ischemic stroke patients with documented symptom start time arrived at Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke hospitals within the first hour of stroke onset – allowing the opportunity for quicker treatment with clot-busting drugs that can reduce stroke damage, according to a study in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The Annals of Family Medicine released a research summary / health-care provider tip sheet for May/June based on recent studies with patient populations that range from children to the elderly. This summary covers topics from mental health, including health psychology and behavioral medicine, and physical health that psychologists and physicians alike may be interested in. [...]

Patients recovering from stroke sometimes behave as if completely unaware of one half of the world: colliding with obstacles on their left, eating food only from the right side of their plate, or failing to dress their left side. This puzzling phenomenon is termed “spatial neglect” and it affects roughly 45% of patients suffering from [...]

Patients show modest yet meaningful gains in limb movement and an improved outlook on life years after suffering a stroke, a major clinical study has found. The paper, published online this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, provides the best evidence yet that stroke sufferers in a controlled study can regain limb movement [...]

A self-administered test to screen for early dementia could help speed the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of memory disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease. It could also provide health care providers and caregivers an earlier indication of life-changing events that could lie ahead. The handwritten self-assessment, which can take less than 15 minutes to complete, is a [...]

Patients with coronary heart disease who practiced the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation® technique had nearly 50 percent lower rates of heart attack, stroke, and death compared to non-meditating controls, according to the results of a first-ever study presented during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Fla., on Nov.16, 2009.
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