Stroke Conference Daily News Summary

WHAT: DAILY NEWS SUMMARY — WEDNESDAY, Feb. 24 from the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2010

WHERE: Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Stroke Conference features more than 900 presentations on stroke science, and more than 3,500 attendees are expected.  The American Stroke Association communications department offers a full program of news materials and news events to media.  Conference highlights are below.

The conference is from Wednesday, Feb. 24-Friday, Feb. 26, 2010.

For complete coverage, visit the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's online news room at americanheart.mediaroom.com and click on Scientific Conferences & Meetings.

Wednesday News from the International Stroke Conference:

NEWS CONFERENCE:

TIA – Not a "Mini" Problem.  New research on damage from transient ischemic attack (TIA) – sometimes called "mini-stroke," – and why it should never be taken lightly.  Researchers discussed four abstracts, including:

• Deficits in brain's 'executive' skills common with TIA, minor stroke (news release)
• A new scoring method to identify which TIA patients will have a full-blown stroke.

NEWS RELEASES:

• Single men, unhappily married men may have higher risk of fatal stroke
• Total fat, trans fat linked to higher incidence of ischemic stroke in post-menopausal women
• Stroke incidence rising among younger adults, decreasing among elderly  
• Clot-busting drugs effective in patients with unwitnessed strokes  
• Pediatric Stroke News Tips:

A collection of several childhood stroke abstracts including research about distinctive risk factors for childhood stroke and a rare form of child stroke linked to high BMI.

Downloadable audio interviews with American Stroke Association spokespeople offering perspective on each of the news releases are available. Listen here

NEWS TIPS:

• Air transport could help patients reach Primary Stroke Centers sooner
• Routine use of pseudoephedrine not a stroke risk, study finds
• Black stroke patients' death rate lower than whites' at one year  
• Motor rehab therapy also may improve language skills in stroke patients

SOURCE American Heart Association