Astrocyte Signaling Sheds Light on Stroke Research
New research published in The Journal of Neuroscience suggests that modifying signals sent by astrocytes, our star-shaped brain cells, may help to limit the spread of damage after an ischemic brain stroke. The study in mice, by neuroscientists at Tufts University School of Medicine, determined that astrocytes play a critical role in the spread of damage following stroke.
The National Heart Foundation reports that ischemic strokes account for 87% of strokes in the United States. Ischemic strokes are caused by a blood clot that forms and travels to the brain, preventing the flow of blood and oxygen.
Even when blood and oxygen flow is restored, however, neurotransmitter processes in the brain continue to overcompensate for the lack of oxygen, causing brain cells to be damaged. The damage to brain cells often leads to health complications including visual impairment, memory loss, clumsiness, moodiness, and partial or total paralysis.
Research and drug trials have focused primarily on therapies affecting neurons to limit brain cell damage. Phil Haydon’s group at Tufts University School of Medicine have focused on astrocytes, a lesser known type of brain cell, as an alternative path to understanding and treating diseases affecting brain cells.
In animal models, his research team has shown that astrocytes—which outnumber neurons by ten to one—send signals to neurons that can spread the damage caused by strokes. The current study determines that decreasing astrocyte signals limits damage caused by stroke by regulating the neurotransmitter pathways after an ischemic stroke.
The research team compared two sets of mice: a control group with normal astrocyte signaling levels and a group whose signaling was weakened enough to be made protective rather than destructive. To assess the effect of astrocyte protection after ischemic strokes, motor skills, involving tasks such as walking and picking up food, were tested. In addition, tissue samples were taken from both groups and compared.
“Mice with altered astrocyte signaling had limited damage after the stroke,” said first author Dustin Hines, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in the department of neuroscience at Tufts University School of Medicine. “Manipulating the astrocyte signaling demonstrates that astrocytes are critical to understanding the spread of damage following stroke.”
“Looking into ways to utilize and enhance the astrocyte’s protective properties in order to limit damage is a promising avenue in stroke research,” said senior author Phillip Haydon, Ph.D. Haydon is the Annetta and Gustav Grisard professor and chair of the department of neuroscience at Tufts University School of Medicine and a member of the neuroscience program faculty at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts.
My inspiration
My partner’s father who is barely 60 years old, had had a stroke. We spent almost every day of three months at the hospital visiting him during his recovery.
They said he had a 50/50 chance to live.
They said he’d never walk again.
They said, they said, they said.
In February, all of his doctors, his physiotherapists, his occupational therapists gathered and they said “We were wrong.”
He went to the gym twice a day where he cycled, he walked, he swam and all of this with no feeling in the left side of his body. That’s right. Half of his body was paralysed. He never once complained, even when his face was paralysed Not when he was in ICU and we thought we were going to lose him. Not when he moved into the rehab ward and he couldn’t see out of his left eye. Never.
His recovery wasn’t a miracle.
He killed himself to get out of that bed and out of that chair, every single day. He was in pain when he got onto that exercycle and into that pool and lay down at night.
From day one, while we were crying about how much he’d lost, he was fighting to get it back.
There was no other option.
And that is why I don’t buy this “I can’t”, “I don’t have time”, “It’s too expensive” shit any more.
That is why I stopped saying it. I could if I wanted to. I could if I could be bothered.
This is why I don’t pity people who are still stuck in the cycle of lying to themselves about what they can and can’t do. This is why I won’t accept “I can’t” as an answer. Every time he gets up and walks around, that is his trophy. He knows what he is truly capable of.
I want that more than anything.
Baseline Disease Activity, Hyperlipidemia, and Hypertension Are Predictive Factors for Ischemic Stroke and Stroke Severity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
stroke.ahajournals.orgBackground and Purpose— To determine factors associated with ischemic stroke and stroke severity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
Methods— Between 1992 and January 2005, 238 consecutive systemic lupus erythematosus patients with no history of stroke were followed-up longitudinally at the Maryland Lupus Clinic. Patients were monitored quarterly for a mean of 8 years after their systemic lupus erythematosus diagnosis, and 44 patients (19%) developed first-ever ischemic stroke. At the end of study, Cox proportional regression analyses were used to determine the effect of baseline clinical variables of systemic lupus erythematosus patients in relation to the subsequent occurrence of ischemic stroke and stroke severity after first-ever ischemic strokes. Severe stroke was defined as having a National Institute of Health Stroke Scale ≥6.
Results— Severe ischemic strokes occurred in 34 of 44 (77%) patients. Baseline predictors of ischemic strokes and severe ischemic strokes included disease activity, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension.
Conclusions— Severe ischemic strokes in systemic lupus erythematosus are not uncommon. Aggressive primary and secondary stroke prevention measures, particularly treatment of hyperlipidemia and hypertension, as well as vigorous treatment of clinical symptoms of active lupus, are needed to prevent serious morbidity and neurological disability.
What's Ischemic Stroke?
There’s two kinds of action. Ischemic Stroke is one, which can entirely destruction the brain of your particular person.
Ischemic Stroke is a brain stroke. The following brain stroke is generally often known as CVA or maybe cerebrovascular strike. And also the different involving cerebrovascular event, ischemic stroke can be thought to be fatal. A simple indisputable fact that it calls for the mind helps to make the affliction unfavorable without even doing information with the condition. Mental performance is central to the body, that adjustments all the other parts of the body. Every interferences in it is function is going to significantly affect the functions of an man or woman. Regardless if a person is usually slumbering, your brain is just about the number of body parts in our entire body that’s nonetheless doing work.
Ischemic Stroke is often beat by way of TIA swing as well as temporary ischemic harm. It might be regarded as an alert symbol of action. This can be feasible should there be this quick cessation of blood vessels as well as much needed oxygen supply of the mind. If your pest inside method is certainly not acknowledged earlier along with fast treatment is definitely not completed, it can ischemic stroke to take place in the individual. On this condition, the available appointments of air by blood vessels is actually occluded by a thrombus or perhaps an embolus. Thrombus is the structure regarding blood clots from the blood vessel that will sooner or later occlude the idea. As a result, the minute that thrombus is definitely separate by reviewing the authentic position, that travels into your blood vessels. In this situation, the thrombus is now termed as a great embolus.
It can be thought of as a critical scenario to the healthcare workforce as there is an ischemia within the decided on neural flesh or even a starvation with breathable oxygen offer towards the head. Right after 6 minutes associated with ischemia, the patient will often have long lasting damage from the neural. Following 15 minutes connected with o2 deprivation, the person can have lifeless mind skin. A loss of life with the affected person may very well be coming up using this type of ailment.
A signs of action can vary via the other person. It is due to the damages the ailment possesses lead. The damage for the mind of the patient can be simultaneous for the signs and symptoms that will he/she is going to express. Affected individuals using this type of issue might have motor deficits, vision interruptions, physical dysfunctions, mental insufficiencies, verbal failures, and also emotive issues. Ever since the affected individual incorporates a large number connected with symptoms, looking after this type of sufferers will call for any multi-faceted way of handle each inability how the affected person could possess.
Analytical assessments are generally must in the provision associated with solutions. First of all, it will be important to rule out other conditions. The tests which can be involved with ischemic stroke are mostly focused entirely on having photos on the mental faculties and other components just like arteries that could play a role in the appearance of your heart stroke. Changes in lifestyle could possibly be required especially for people who’ve the higher risk of obtaining the illness. There are a few numbers which have a higher risk as opposed to runners. These people consist of obese men and women, individuals by using high blood pressure Heat Stroke and also patients with hyperlipidemia.
The prevention of ischemic stroke contains pharmacologic surgery, changes in lifestyle plus surgeries. These kind of described techniques also apply within the management of this issue. Additionally, it involves options which often can help the predicament of your sufferer like therapy, speech lesson, mental help along with cognitive therapy. Surgery must be done at the earliest opportunity to prevent higher loss about the individual.
3 Foods that Can Trigger a Stroke
articles.mercola.com
Eat these 3 foods - and you could find yourself a sudden stroke victim. One spikes your risk by 30%… another by a whopping 48% when consuming just one a day. Avoid them to protect yourself and loved ones. Plus, the 5 signs a stroke is in progress and what to do immediately…
Time is Brain
Treatment of an Ischemic Stroke:
- Thrombolytic agents- contradictions: use of oral anticoagulants, hx of GI bleed, recent MI, surgery within the last 14 months, stroke or head injury in the last 3 months, or an elevated BP> 200/120
- TPA can be used if within 3 hours- it will “clot bust” and cause little residual damage although there is a risk for bleeding.
- If > 3 hours then treat with Heparin
- Thrombolytic agents NOT use in hemorrhagic stroke, if they are the patient will die.
Better outcome in ischemic stroke with high cholesterol.
ncbi.nlm.nih.govThe authors’ findings suggest that higher levels of cholesterol are associated with a better outcome in the early phase after ischemic stroke.
Neurology. 2000 May 23;54(10):1944-9.
Vauthey C, de Freitas GR, van Melle G, Devuyst G, Bogousslavsky J.
Department of Neurology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland.
