Seizures Likely Sign of Brain Injury After Stroke

(HealthDay News) -- Stroke patients who suffer seizures are more likely to die within 30 days than stroke patients who don't have seizures are, a new study shows.

Seizures may be a sign of significant brain injury and may occur in patients who've suffered any type of stroke. This study found that the overall incidence of seizures within 24 hours of a stroke is 3.1 percent. Patients with intracranial hemorrhages (bleeding within the brain) have a higher rate of seizures (8.4 percent) in the first 24 hours after stroke. Overall, there was a 30 percent mortality rate within the first 30 days of a stroke.

The researchers also investigated any racial differences in post-stroke seizures and found that, even though blacks are known to have higher rates of both seizures and strokes, there were no racial differences in seizure incidence or death rates.

"Patients with seizures in the setting of acute stroke may constitute a target population for the development of drugs that may prevent seizures," study author Dr. Jerzy P. Szaflarski, said in a prepared statement.

"Because patients with stroke have high incidence of immediate and long-term seizures and epilepsy, they constitute a population where seizure prevention with anti-epileptic drugs can be studied," Szaflarski said.

The study was published in the June issue of Epilepsia.

More information
The American Stroke Association has more about stroke effects.

Group B Strep Down Among Newborns, Up Among Adults

(HealthDay News) -- Instances of Group B streptococcus, a major cause of serious infections, have dropped by about 25 percent among week-old infants, but rose by almost 50 percent among most adults during a recent six-year period, according to a new study.

Group B strep is the leading cause of sepsis and meningitis in the first week of life. Prevention strategies put in place during the 1970s have helped quell the condition, called early-onset disease. However, an estimated 21,500 cases of invasive disease and 1,700 deaths were traced to the disease during 2005, according to the study, published in the May 7 issue of Journal of American Medical Association.

Group B streptococcus can also cause invasive disease in older infants, pregnant women, children and young adults with underlying medical conditions and older adults. An increase in disease incidence among non-pregnant adults has been previously documented in past decades.

The new study, which examines data on laboratory-confirmed invasive group B streptococcal disease in 10 states from 1999 to 2005, found 14,573 cases of the disease overall. Of those, 1,232 cases where early-onset disease.

Incidence decreased among week-old infants by 27 percent after the early-onset disease prevention guidelines were revised in 2002. Incidence remained flat among babies age 7 days to 89 days and pregnant women.

Among those age 15 to 64 years, Group B strep increased 48 percent. Occurrence of the disease increase by 20 percent among those 65 years or older experienced a 20 percent increase.

The proportion of patients who died was highest in the oldest age groups.

All strains of Group B strep tested were vulnerable to the antibiotics penicillin, ampicillin, and vancomycin, but 32 percent and 15 percent were resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin, respectively.

The study's authors concluded that group B streptococcus vaccination trials for mothers should become a priority, followed by vaccine development to help the elderly and younger adults with chronic underlying conditions.

More information
The Group B Strep International has more about Group B streptococcus .

Health Tip: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

(HealthDay News) -- No one knows precisely why people get cancer, and there's no surefire cure.

But if you maintain a healthy lifestyle, you can help reduce your risk. Here are some suggestions, courtesy of AARP:

• Eat a healthy diet, including plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Limit intake of red meat, saturated fats, smoked and salt-cured foods, and foods preserved with nitrates.


• Get regular exercise of 30 minutes or more at least five days a week.


• Maintain a healthy body weight.


• If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation.


• Wear sunscreen and avoid prolonged exposure to direct sun during the midday hours.


• Get screened for cancers for which you may be most susceptible.