Health Bulletin

Stress, depression may boost stroke risk
Stress, hostility and depression may increase the risk for stroke, a new study published in the journal Stroke suggests.
The study found that depression seemed to raise the risk of a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA) by 86 percent. It also found that stress apparently raised stroke or TIA risk by 59 percent. And hostility doubled the risk, the researchers said. A TIA is a mini-stroke caused by a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain.

Routine pulse check may prevent second stroke
Regularly checking the pulse of a stroke survivor may help prevent another stroke, according to a study published in the journal Neurology.
Researchers say that screening pulse is the method of choice for checking for irregular heartbeat for people over age 65 who have never had a stroke. The study shows it may be a safe, effective, noninvasive and easy way to identify people who might need more thorough monitoring to prevent a second stroke. The study also revealed that pulse checks taken by patients and relatives were nearly as accurate as those taken by health care workers.