Stroke Archive

Stroke is the most common cause of aphasia, a language-based brain disorder that can affect speaking, understanding, reading, and writing. But the brain has the ability to rewire brain cells and recover lost function through a process known as neuroplasticity. Therapy with a speech-language pathologist facilitates this recovery, which is greatest in the first several months after a stroke. Stroke survivors who keep working on their language processing problems can continue to improve for years.

A pre-surgery consultation with the surgeon can feel overwhelming. Many people are anxious and have questions about what's to come. Setting the right expectations on both sides can ease anxiety and help define a successful outcome.

Lifestyle changes like regular exercise, a healthy diet, and sufficient sleep are cornerstones of self-care for people with type 2 diabetes. But can mind-body practices help people manage or even treat type 2 diabetes? An analysis of multiple studies suggests they might.

More than a million nerve connections are made in the brain in the first few years of life. Babies and young children thrive with responsive caregiving, such as engaging a child in playful games that change as they grow.

One in 10 Americans ages 65 and older has dementia. The condition is likely to progress slowly, offering couples the opportunity to adopt coping strategies that can smooth their path. Early on, you can consider treatment that may temporarily improve memory and thinking problems. People whose partners have been diagnosed should get informed about dementia, attend doctor's visits, take over certain tasks, keep routines, update legal documents, and join a support group.

Everyone is born with the blood vessels that underlie hemorrhoids, but they may become problematic when they enlarge. Half of people have symptoms by age 50 that include pain, itching, swelling, and bleeding. Home remedies such as pain relievers, topical creams and ointments, sitz baths, and cold compresses don't eradicate hemorrhoids. In-office procedures can cut off blood supply to internal hemorrhoids, allowing them to fall off. Surgery is the only definitive treatment option for external hemorrhoids visible at the anus.

Older adults can still lower their risk for dementia by taking medication to decrease their high blood pressure, according to a recent study.

A 2022 study found that taking supplements for four weeks to treat "bad" LDL cholesterol was ineffective, compared with taking a statin drug for four weeks. Supplements studied included fish oil, cinnamon, garlic, turmeric, plant sterols, and red yeast rice.

In a large 2022 study, people with unhealthy sleep patterns (those who snored, experienced daytime sleepiness, had insomnia, slept less than seven hours per night, or slept more than nine hours per night) were more likely to develop glaucoma than people with healthy sleep patterns.