A new study suggests that the nutritional supplement vitamin E can protect a patient’s brain after they suffer a stroke.

Researchers from the Ohio State University revealed that a specific kind of vitamin E can help prevent cells from dying after a stroke, according to findings published in the Journal of Neurochemistry.

Vitamin E can be found in eight different forms. However, it was tocotrienol, or TCT, that was used for this study.

“We have studied an enzyme that is present all the time, but one that is activated after a stroke in a way that causes neurodegeneration,” explained the study’s senior author Chandan Sen. “We found that it can be put in check by very low levels of tocotrienol. So what we have here is a naturally derived nutrient, rather than a drug, that provides this beneficial impact.”

After suffering from the ailment, an excessive level of glutamate is released in the brain, which can ultimately kill brain cells and release fatty acids. It was determined that the nutritional supplement could serve as a therapeutic way to prevent the brain from becoming damaged from the stroke.

Vitamin E can decrease the release of the fatty acids by 60 percent, which can ultimately help the brain.

Weight loss pill ‘Reductil’ has been found to increase the risk of heart attacks and stroke.

European Medicines Agency (EMA) has claimed that the pill apparently contains an ingredient that increases blood pressure. Also, the Sibutramine Cardiovascular Outcome Trial (SCOUT) surveyed 10,000 patients over six years to reach the conclusion.

Experts suggest the tablets with sibutramine, common among overweight or obese patients, can spark heart problems.

“This is information we need to take very seriously because we should not be prescribing it to the wrong people,” the Daily Express quoted Dr David Haslam, chair of the National Obesity Forum, as saying.

He added: “Anything that lapses blood pressure control could have side-effects.

“Anyone who has had a heart attack or a stroke should stop taking it but those who haven’t should be assured there are no danger signals for them.”

Also, an EMA spokesman said: “Because of the seriousness of the findings of the SCOUT study, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use is currently assessing the implications of these findings for the use of sibutramine in normal clinical practice.”

However, a spokesman for Abbott Laboratories, which manufacturers Reductil, said: “Our ongoing evaluation of the SCOUT study data does not change our medical assessment of sibutramine’s risk/benefit profile when used appropriately in the approved patient population.

“Sibutramine is an important treatment for patients who are obese.”

EMA has linked 17 deaths in the UK to ‘Reductil’ use.

According to researchers from the University of Michigan, adults who take an aspirin to prevent heart complications in addition to Celebrex for joint pain are counteracting their medications.

“The greatest risk is having people take Celebrex who are taking aspirin for cardiovascular problems that are known to be mitigated by aspirin, including patients with unstable angina or those at risk for a second heart attack,” said study author Minor Coon.

The study reveals that Celebrex keeps aspirin from doing its job effectively, leaving patients at risk for having a stroke. It’s reported that nearly half of all men over the age of 50 are prescribed a low-dose aspirin to help protect them against heart complications. Unfortunately, Celebrex is one of the more commonly prescribed medications for those suffering from arthritis, most of who are over the age of 50.

An alternative to Celebrex would be to take a nutritional supplement for arthritis and joint pain such as ginko and curcumin.

Post menopausal women who take anti-depressants face a small – but statistically significant – increased risk of a stroke, research suggests.

The US study was based on 136,293 women aged 50 to 79, who were followed for an average of six years.

Anti-depressant users were 45% more likely to have a stroke than women not taking the drugs.

The data, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, is taken from the Women’s Health Initiative Study.

When overall death rates were examined, those on anti-depressants were found to have a 32% higher risk of death from all causes during the study than non-users.

The researchers stressed that the overall risk of a stroke was relatively small. Even for women on anti-depressants, it was less than one in 200 chance in any given year.

However, they said that because so many women were taking anti-depressants the effect would be significant across the entire population.

It is not clear whether taking anti-depressants is solely responsible for the increased risk of a stroke.

Depression itself is known to be a risk factor for cardiovascular problems.

The researchers tried to take this into account in their analysis of the data – but could not rule out the possibility that it influenced the final results.

The study found no difference in stroke risk between the two major classes of anti-depressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or tricyclic anti-depressants (TCAs).

However, the SSRIs did appear to convey a higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke caused by a bleed in the brain.

Lead researcher Dr Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, stressed that treatment for depression was important, and that women should not stop taking prescribed medication without first consulting their doctor.

She said: “You have to weigh the benefits that you get from these antidepressants against the small increase in risk that we found in this study.”

Known links

The researchers said follow-up studies were needed before any firm conclusions could be drawn.

Dr Jordan Smoller, of Harvard Medical School, who also worked on the study, said: “We need to study this association more to determine exactly what it signifies.”

Joanne Murphy, for The Stroke Association stressed the study showed that overall risk for women taking anti-depressants was relatively small.

She said “We are already aware of links between depression and the risk of stroke and we are currently funding further studies to look into this.

“Everyone can help reduce their risk of stroke by making lifestyle changes, such as reducing their blood pressure, giving up smoking, reducing alcohol intake, improving their diet and getting plenty of exercise.”

Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation, said: “Severe depression can be debilitating and even fatal, so it is important to weigh up any small increase in the risk of stroke with the benefits of treating depression.”

Bridget O’Connell, from the mental health charity Mind, said antidepressants produced a range of side effects that affected people in different ways.

She said: “Many people can experience huge benefits from taking antidepressants and it’s important they work with their GP to identify both the plus points and the drawbacks, and weigh up what treatment is best for them.”

They had raise fresh safety concerns about widely used anemia medicines, finding that the drug Aranesp nearly doubled the risk of stroke in people with diabetes and chronic kidney problems who are not yet sick enough to need dialysis.

The study is the largest ever of these blood-boosting drugs and the only one that compared them to a dummy treatment. The medicines have become blockbuster sellers because they lessen the need for transfusions, but their ability to prevent heart attacks, kidney failure or other problems have not been proven.

Over the last two years, the federal Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly strengthened warning labels on Aranesp, Epogen and Procrit as concerns rose that they may worsen survival in certain cancer patients, especially at higher doses. Amgen Inc. of Thousand Oaks, Calif., makes all three drugs, although New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson sells Procrit.

The new study tested Aranesp in a different group of patients: 4,038 people with Type 2 diabetes, kidney problems and moderate anemia — problems that often go hand in hand. The goal was to see if the drug could prevent heart attacks, heart failure, strokes or the need for dialysis.

It not only failed to do that, but “we uncovered a risk that I think is substantial for stroke,” said study leader Dr. Marc Pfeffer, a heart specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Strokes occurred in 101 patients given Aranesp and 53 patients given dummy shots. Looked at another way, the risk of suffering a stroke was about 1 percent per year in the placebo group and about 2 percent in those given Aranesp.

For many people, “this risk will outweigh its potential benefits,” the study’s authors conclude.

Results were published online Friday by the New England Journal of Medicine and were to be presented at a conference of kidney specialists in San Diego. Amgen sponsored the study. Pfeffer has consulted for the company and two authors work for it.

Dr. Roger Perlmutter, Amgen’s head of research and development, said the magnitude of stroke risk “surprised us.” The potential risk of stroke has been listed on Aranesp’s label since the drug was approved in 2001, but “we will definitely update the label” because of the new study’s results, he said.

Aranesp did reduce the need for transfusions — 297 people on the drug needed them versus 496 of those getting dummy shots. However, there was only a modest improvement in how fatigued people said they felt in the Aranesp group.

The study’s results may not apply to people already on dialysis, Dr. Philip Marsden of St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, writes in an editorial in the medical journal. For them, the quality of life improvement from fewer transfusions may be greater.

The risk was highest among young women with migraine with aura who smoke and use oestrogen containing contraceptives.

Migraine is a common, chronic disorder that affects up to 20% of the population. Women are affected up to four times more often than men. Up to one third of sufferers also experience an aura prior to or during a migraine headache (often described as the perception of a strange light, an unpleasant smell or confusing thoughts or experiences).

Doctors have long suspected a connection between migraine and vascular events such as stroke. So to investigate this further, an international team of researchers analysed the results of nine studies on the association between any migraine (with and without aura) and cardiovascular disease. Differences in study design and quality were taken into account to minimise bias.

They show that migraine with aura is associated with a twofold increased risk of ischemic stroke. This risk is further increased by being female, age less than 45 years, smoking, and oestrogen containing contraceptive use.

There was no association between migraine and heart attack or death due to cardiovascular disease.

In light of these findings, the authors recommend that young women who have migraine with aura should be strongly advised to stop smoking, and methods of birth control other than oestrogen containing contraceptives should be considered. They also call for additional research to investigate the association between migraine and cardiovascular disease in more detail.

The absolute risk of stroke for most migraine patients is low, so a doubling of risk is not cause for panic, explains Elizabeth Loder from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, in an accompanying editorial. However, at a population level, this risk deserves attention because the prevalence of migraine is so high. She suggests that patients who have migraine with aura should be followed closely and treated aggressively for modifiable cardiovascular risk factors.

The compound in question is glutamic acid, and according to the work conducted at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, boosting its intake may contribute to better health of the circulatory system.

The researchers analyzed data from the International Study on Macro/Micronutrients and Blood Pressure which involved 4,680 people aged between 40-59 in rural and urban populations in China, Japan, the UK and the U.S.

Increasing the consumption of protein-rich vegetables by 4.72 percent resulted in a 1.5 to 3 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) decrease in systolic blood pressure and a 1 to 1.6 mm Hg reduction in diastolic pressure.

“It is estimated that reducing a population’s average systolic blood pressure by 2 mm Hg could cut stroke death rates by 6 percent and reduce mortality from coronary heart disease by 4 percent,” says Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, professor emeritus of the Department of Preventive Medicine in the Feinberg School.

In view of these results, the alkaline diet—which is rich in citrus fruits, vegetables, tubers, nuts and legumes—may also be beneficial for those at risk of high blood pressure.

Additionally, many high protein diets are high in saturated fat and low in fiber, a combination that can increase cholesterol levels and raise the risk of heart disease and stroke.

High protein diets have also been shown to cause higher than normal calcium excretion through the urine, which over a prolonged period of time can increase the risk of osteoporosis and kidney stones. And a recent study suggests that a high protein diet may actually cause brain shrinkage and an increased “susceptibility to or progression of Alzheimer’s disease.”

The discovery was an unexpected one, found while studying the effects of different diets on mice bred to develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The mice were fed either a regular diet, high fat/low carb custom diet, high protein/low carb version or a high carb/low fat option. When the researchers looked at the brain and body weight of the mice, as well as plaque build-up and differences in the structure of several brain regions involved in the memory defect underlying AD, they were surprised to find that the brains of the mice fed a high protein/low carb diet were 5 percent lighter than all the others and the regions of their hippocampus were less developed.

The researchers theorize that the high protein diet may leave neurons more vulnerable to AD plaque. “High protein diets are used for weight control, and those diets sometimes combine high fat and high protein, which may be doubly damaging, if the high fat increases the accumulation of plaques and the high protein sensitizes nerve cells to the poison released by plaques,” said lead author Sam Gandy, a professor at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine and a neurologist at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New York. “Given the previously reported association of high-protein diet with aging-related neurotoxicity, one wonders whether particular diets, if ingested at particular ages, might increase susceptibility to incidence or progression of Alzheimer’s disease.”

Gandy believes the only way to know for sure if these findings have implications for the human brain is to perform prospective randomized double blind clinical diet trials. “This would be a challenging undertaking but potentially worthwhile. If there is a real chance that the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease might be slowed or avoided through healthy eating,” he said. “Such trials will be required if scientists are ever to make specific recommendations about dietary risks for Alzheimer’s disease.” Previous research has shown a Mediterranean-style low-calorie, low-fat diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and fish might delay the onset or slow the progression of AD.

AD is the most common type of dementia, affecting as many as 5.3 million Americans. Brain lesions, called amyloid plaques and tangles, accumulate, destroying brain cells, causing memory loss and problems with thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, social life and even the ability to cope with everyday life. Over time, AD gets worse and is fatal. Currently, there is no cure for AD, but researchers around the world continue to search for better ways to treat the disease, delay its onset, or prevent it from developing.

Researchers in Sweden surveyed 600 recent stroke victims on their perceptions of their stress levels prior to being admitted to the hospital. The patients were asked to choose between six different alternatives to indicate how stressed they had felt before their stroke, from “never been stressed” to “constantly stressed over the past five years”. Their responses were compared with a healthy control group who were asked the same question.

The study suggests there is a link to stress in cases where the stroke is caused by atherosclerosis or to blood clots that have developed locally in the smaller vessels of the brain. The link was also found for patients in whom it had not been possible to establish the cause of the stroke despite an extensive evaluation.

“We do not know why stress appears to play a greater role in particular types of stroke, but it is an important finding as it prompts further studies on what role stress plays in the development of stroke,” said researcher Katarina Jood.

Health resources for managing stress include identifying its cause, getting plenty of exercise and eating a healthy diet. Relaxation techniques like breathing exercises, yoga, meditation and aromatherapy have also been suggested by healthcare practitioners.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and is a leading cause of serious long-term disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A study appearing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition finds people who took one tablespoon of whole flaxseed everyday were able to reduce both their total cholesterol and their LDL, or bad, cholesterol levels. Flaxseed oil, in comparison, did not produce the same results.

Women, particularly post-menopausal women, had the greatest reduction in their cholesterol, compared to men and other people who previously had higher cholesterol levels, according to Reuters.

Flaxseed has been called a wonder food and previous studies have found it may help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, according to WebMD.

It contains omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidant-rich lignans and both soluble and insoluble fiber.

Taking one to two tablespoons of flaxseed every day is a simple health resource. Experts say whole and ground flaxseed are preferrable to flaxseed oil so you get all its healthy components.

It is available in packaged foods like crackers, waffles and cereals and can be easily added at home to muffins, cakes and even casseroles.

Most supermarkets, pharmacies, other specialty food and vitamin stores and online retailers sell flaxseed.