Recap: International Stroke Conference

Exciting New Research to Prevent, Manage and Recover from Stroke

From February 4th to 6th, thousands of Stroke experts from more than 50 countries took part in the American Stroke Association’s Annual International Stroke Conference. Conference attendees were introduced to Heart Powered, and invited to join our efforts to strengthen stroke care and create healthier communities.

Participants had access to nearly 1,500 presentations, with opportunities to learn more about groundbreaking new research to help prevent, treat and recover from stroke, the #4 killer in the United States. Below are some examples of the research shared at the conference:

• Stroke survivors may have better recoveries if they can share their feelings with friends and family members. Social support is recognized as beneficial after a stroke, but this study is one of the first to assess the influence of social constraints on stroke recovery. It found that patients who felt less able to openly share their feelings three months post-stroke were more likely to experience loneliness, have difficulty with everyday activities and have greater problems with thinking skills such as memory and language one year later. In fact, the “level of social constraint after 90 days was just as effective at predicting overall disability and physical function one year later as the initial severity of the stroke,” according to lead study author E. Alison Holman, Ph.D.
• Another presentation focused on how previous strokes can impact women during pregnancy. It found that female stroke survivors were more than twice as likely as their stroke-free counterparts to have another stroke while pregnant and in the six weeks after childbirth. These results show that women could benefit from working with an interdisciplinary team of neurologists and obstetricians to create a plan both during pregnancy and postpartum.

These are just two examples of the types of research presented at the International Stroke Conference. If you want to learn more about new research on stroke, you can read up on the latest stroke news here.