Stroke bleeds in the brain not decreasing, study finds

Posted on: Tuesday, June 9th, 2020

Brain bleeds called intracerebral hemorrhages remained stable in incidence among all age groups over the past 30 years, but they increased in people 75 and older, according to a new analysis of the Framingham Heart Study. The findings are in JAMA Neurology.

Use of anticoagulants also increased in senior adults threefold over the period, but authors cautioned against making too much of it.

“We are not advocating that people stop taking statins or anticoagulants,” said report senior author Sudha Seshadri, MD, neurologist in the Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. “Those therapies reduce the risk of ischemic strokes, which represent approximately nine of every 10 strokes, with intracerebral hemorrhages representing the other tenth.”

Because of the increase in life expectancy and aging of the population, health care systems will likely see an increase in the number of patients with brain hemorrhages, said Dr. Seshadri, who is senior investigator of the Framingham Heart Study and at UT Health San Antonio directs the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases.

To read the full article, visit UT Health San Antonio Newsroom.

Article Categories: In the News, Research and Progress