Stroke Research Leads the Way

THE Stroke Association has recently awarded over £383,000 to five new research projects around the UK. Each year the charity funds around £2 million of stroke research.

A £100,000 award has just been granted to a unique research project in Scotland. Dr Rustam Al-Shahi, University of Edinburgh, will look at patients who are affected by abnormal tangles of blood vessels in the brain, otherwise known as intracranial vascular malformations (IVMs).

It is estimated that over 20,000 adults in the UK suffer from this condition and it is the single most common cause of stroke due to a brain haemorrhage in young adults (15 - 40 years of age). The study will enable doctors to give more accurate information to people affected by IVMs.

Another £57,000 grant has been awarded to Professor Pam Enderby at the University of Bristol, to look at the use of automatic speech recognition (ASR) software by people with speech problems after a stroke. The study will investigate whether those with speech problems will be able to use the software in order to write using a computer or use e-mail.

"These projects cover a wide range of areas by top researchers in their field," says Professor Peter Fentem, Chairman of The Stroke Association's Research and Development Committee. "Their work could help provide the prevention and treatment so badly needed to reduce the level of death and severe disability from stroke in this country."

Other projects include a £99,000 study by Dr Jonathan Gillard, at the University of Cambridge, to help to identify those at risk of a stroke more accurately by using a magnetic imaging (MRI) technique. By looking at the narrowing of the arteries in the neck with this technique, hopefully, doctors will be able to recognise those high-risk patients who would benefit from treatment, which might ultimately involve medicine rather than surgery. And an £80,000 project has been awarded to Professor Ann Ashburn at Southampton University, to help identify which stroke patients are at a greater risk of falling after a stroke. It is beneficial to know which patients are at risk so that preventative measures can be introduced by hospitals when patients return home - hopefully reducing the number of fall related injuries.

Finally, a £46,000 grant has been awarded to research that will hopefully help those who have suffered a stroke, and have persistent dressing difficulties, to dress themselves; easing their dependence on long-term care and improving their quality of life.

"All these projects are of the highest calibre and The Stroke Association is pleased to be able to support this level of research," adds Professor Fentem. "The charity remains a leading
funding body for research in this field which receives very limited support from Government funds."

Ends

Notes to editor

1. For contact details or interviews, please call The Stroke Association on 020 7566 0317

2. When a stroke occurs part of the brain is suddenly severely damaged or destroyed. It takes place either when a blood clot forms in a damaged vessel and blocks the flow of blood to the brain, or when a damaged vessel in the brain bursts.

3. Every year more than 100,000 people in England and Wales suffer first strokes - about 10,000 are under the age of 55.

4. Stroke is the single biggest cause of serious disability with a total of 300,000 people affected at any one time.

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