Stanford Stroke Center News and Events
Researchers testing vibrating technology to help stroke patients
Researchers at Stanford are testing a unique vibrating glove designed to help stroke patients dealing with spasticity, a severe muscle stiffness affecting roughly a quarter of all stroke survivors. The innovative tech uses vibration patterns to help relax the muscles, showing comparable or even better results than conventional Botox treatment in trials. Stroke survivor Ho Wei Tsang shared his positive experience, likening the sudden softness of muscles while using the glove to "magic". This life-changing technology, however, is not yet commercially available but new clinical trials are anticipated in the near future.
Neurocritical Care Society (NCS) Board of Directors Selected
Chitra Venkatasubramanian, MBBS, MD, MSc, FNCS was appointed to the Neurocritical Care Society’s (NCS) Board of Directors. Congratulations, Dr. Venkat!
Stanford Medicine researchers find possible cause of depression after stroke
Depression can be a very serious problem after stroke. This study will help us develop new and better treatments for those who aren't completely treated by current anti-depressants.
Stroke Risk Rising in Young People
2 million young adults suffer from strokes ever year. Maarten Lansberg, MD, PhD, professor at the Stanford Stroke Center, provides insight about risk factors.
Electrically stimulated stem cells aid stroke recovery in rodents, Stanford researchers find
Stanford scientists in the Paul George Lab have developed a device that delivers and electrically stimulates stem cells to promote stroke healing.
Opening stroke’s window
On a mission to defend more stroke patients from a life of disability, Stanford Medicine colleagues drive research that extends the window for effective intervention.
How Tri-Valley hospital helps patients survive stroke
Stanford Health Care – ValleyCare's stroke program is recognized for its commitment to meeting rigorous national standards of stroke care.
Fewer stroke patients are coming to hospitals because of the coronavirus pandemic
Hospitals across the United States are seeing fewer stroke patients coming to their facilities for care — and a new paper ties that trend to the coronavirus pandemic. The paper, published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine as a letter to the editor, suggests that the number of patients in the United States undergoing imaging for stroke evaluation has decreased by 39% since before the pandemic.
Study aims to learn more about silent infarction, cognitive decline linked to silent stroke
Can you have a stroke and not know it? Unfortunately, yes. It is a phenomenon called a silent stroke or, more formally, a silent cerebral infarction. Investigators at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Stanford University want to learn more about silent strokes and their role in brain health, including dementia.
Stanford Stroke Center beats national stroke treatment times
During a stroke, 1.9 million neurons die every minute. Stanford Health Care cut half an hour off its stroke treatment time, helping patients.
Vascular Dementia Treatment: How Lifestyle Changes Are Key to Prevention
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, vascular dementia is the second most common cause of dementia but it can be difficult to diagnose. Dr. Marion Buckwalter discusses possible causes and how to reduce the risk of getting dementia.
Researchers building glove to treat symptoms of stroke
Strokes often have a devastating impact on our hands. Now, Stanford researchers are collaborating on a vibrating glove that could improve hand function after a stroke.
Stanford Young Stroke Program
The Stanford Young Stroke Program is one of a few major programs in the US and the only one on the West Coast dedicated to stroke prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation specifically for young patients.
Time: The huge game changer for treatment of stroke, a podcast
Albers, director of the Stanford Stroke Center, has been working to understand the mechanisms governing strokes for nearly 30 years. Thanks to that dogged work, Albers hit gold in 2018 with the release of data from a large multisite clinical trial, DEFUSE 3.
After 4 Strokes, Rare Disease and Brain Surgery, Woman Helps Others
Lisa Deck survived 3 strokes in her 20's. When a fourth stroke led to a Moyamoya diagnosis, Deck came to Stanford for two brain surgeries. Deck is now a Go Red for Women national spokeswoman.
Like Luke Perry, John Singleton’s crisis shows that strokes happen ‘at any age’
While it is true that the vast majority of people who suffer a stroke in the United States are 65 and older, “strokes can happen at any age."
Stanford, Georgia Tech researchers build a glove to treat symptoms of stroke
Strokes often have a devastating impact on something most of us rely heavily on in our daily lives – our hands. Now, Stanford researchers are collaborating on a vibrating glove that could improve hand function after a stroke.
Immune profile two days after stroke predicts dementia a year later
Stanford researchers have found that transient changes in the numbers and activation levels of a handful of circulating immune cell types can predict the likelihood of dementia one year after a stroke.
New Institute Series Highlights Experiences of Faculty Researchers
A new Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute series, #BrainsBehindTheInstitute, highlights the stories and experiences that inspire faculty researchers, including Department of Neurology's Dr. Marion Buckwalter.
Recovering from stroke
Researchers like Marion S. Buckwalter, MD, PhD and her colleague Maarten Lansberg, MD, PhD are working on how to prevent dementia in stroke survivors, nearly half of whom develop the condition in the first decade after a stroke. Others are working on new ways to deliver drugs right where they're needed in the brain, developing ways to stimulate the brain's recovery with magnetic fields, and building robotic devices tailored to help individual stroke patients walk more easily. With those and other developments on the horizon, the future for stroke survivors could be bright.
Stanford-led clinical trial shows broader benefits of acute-stroke therapy
In a multicenter study led by Stanford researchers, the number of stroke patients who died or required confinement to nursing homes was nearly cut in half, the biggest improvement seen in any stroke-related trial to date.
New research will radically change response to strokes
Advanced brain imaging technology may give doctors an additional 10 hours or more to respond to some strokes, researchers said Wednesday, a development that may soon bring major changes to the way hospitals treat one of the leading causes of disability and death. Read more
Brain-scan guided emergency stroke treatment can save more lives
Advances in brain imaging can identify a greater number of stroke patients who can receive therapy later than previously believed, according to a new study.
Brain-scan guided emergency stroke treatment can save more lives
We conducted a multicenter, randomized, open-label trial, with blinded outcome assessment, of thrombectomy in patients 6 to 16 hours after they were last known to be well and who had remaining ischemic brain tissue that was not yet infarcted.
Clinical trial shows broader benefits of acute-stroke therapy iSchemaView RAPID software plays central role in success
DEFUSE 3, a 38-center clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and led by Stanford researchers, has shown that far more people than previously thought can benefit from existing emergency treatments for acute ischemic stroke.
Stanford Health Care Recertified as Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center
Stanford Health Care announced that it has been recertified by The Joint Commission as an Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center, a prestigious designation reserved for institutions with specific abilities to receive and treat the most complex stroke cases.
Stanford Neurologist changing the face of the stroke stopwatch
Treatment for stroke is determined by the stopwatch. Missing the few hours that are the window of opportunity between stroke onset and the time of diagnosis make many patients ineligible for reperfusion therapy.
Image-interpretation software could open window of treatment for stroke
Restoring blood flow to the brain quickly after a stroke is key to damage control as well as to optimal recovery. But restoring blood flow to brain tissue that is already dead can cause problems, like swelling and hemorrhage.
B Cells May Contribute to Post-Stroke Dementia Risk
Why is the risk for developing dementia doubled for as much as a decade after stroke? A new study suggests the answer may be B cells.
The second-hardest thing
Learning to talk again following a stroke was tough, but now tech exec Sean Maloney is embarking on cross-country bicycle ride.
Brain scientists speak at Davos economic forum
Members of research teams created through the Stanford Neurosciences Institute's Big Ideas in Neuroscience initiative spoke Jan. 23 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Study ties immune cells to delayed onset of post-stroke dementia
Researchers say that the appearance in the brain of a type of immune cell has been implicated in delayed dementia in mice and humans who have suffered a stroke.
Public policies for addiction, smarter prosthetics and stroke among the Big Ideas tackled by Stanford neuroscientists
Brain research that improves policies for treating drug addiction is one of seven Big Ideas that will become new priorities for the Stanford Neurosciences Institute. These new interdisciplinary teams span schools and disciplines to tackle critical challenges in brain research.
Big Ideas Fuel Stroke Recovery Research
With financial support from the Big Ideas in Neuroscience program, Maarten Lansberg, MD, PhD, and Marion Buckwalter, MD, PhD, have merged their basic science and clinical backgrounds, pulled in experts from across Stanford and built a collaborative network of brain power to tackle this essential question: Why do some patients recover better from stroke while others do not? The Stroke Collaborative Action Network, or SCAN, was developed to understand the mechanisms of stroke recovery and to enhance recovery through new treatments.