Anti-hyperglycemic use tied to reduced risk of intracranial aneurysm rupture

Go ask your doctor if this applies to you. You do expect her to know about this study since she should have been aware of the setup and establishment of the research?
https://www.mdlinx.com/internal-medicine/top-medical-news/article/2017/12/20/7498233/?

Reuters Health News

The use of anti-hyperglycemic agents is associated with a reduced risk of intracranial aneurysm rupture, according to a medical records study.
"This study suggests that anti-hyperglycemic medications may be potential therapeutic agents for the prevention of aneurysm rupture,” Dr. Rose Du from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, told Reuters Health by email. “However, future studies will be required to understand the mechanism behind this association, and prospective clinical studies will be required to confirm the protective effects.”
Some reports have suggested that diabetes could be a protective factor for rupture of intracranial aneurysms, but the findings are inconsistent.
Dr. Du’s team investigated the possible association of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) values and the use of anti-hyperglycemic agents with the risk of intracranial aneurysm rupture in a study of medical records from 4,701 patients with 6,411 aneurysms, of which 1,302 (28%) were ruptured.
The findings were published online December 4 in Stroke.
Anti-hyperglycemic use was associated with a 43% lower risk of intracranial aneurysm rupture in multivariate analysis. Also independently associated with a lower rupture risk were female sex and a family history of aneurysm.
Factors independently associated with a significantly higher risk of rupture included black, Hispanic, Asian, or "other" race, as well as current alcohol and tobacco use.
HbA1c values were not significantly associated with the risk of aneurysm rupture.
“We were surprised to find that it was the use of anti-hyperglycemic agents rather than the hyperglycemia itself that is inversely associated with aneurysm rupture,” Dr. Du said.
She cautioned, “We would like to point out that while the results of this study showed an association between anti-hyperglycemic agents and decreased risk of aneurysm rupture, it would be important not to assume causation without additional studies.”
—Will Boggs, MD

Researchers identify two new potential drug targets for treating atherosclerosis

But are these other ways better?

Watermelon juice reverses hardening of the arteries Nov. 2011 

New study shows aged garlic extract can reduce dangerous plaque buildup in arteries  Jan. 2016 

Pomegranate juice consumption for 3 years by patients with carotid artery stenosis reduces common carotid intima-media thickness, blood pressure and LDL oxidation  June 2004 

Regular coffee drinkers have 'cleaner' arteries

The druggie way here:

Researchers identify two new potential drug targets for treating atherosclerosis

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have found two new potential drug targets for treating arterial diseases such as atherosclerosis. By using proteomics to screen a vast number of molecules, the researchers identified PARP9 and PARP14 - two members of the PARP family of proteins - as regulators of macrophage activation, which has been linked to arterial disease by systems biology.
Though the mechanisms that activate macrophages, a type of digestive white blood cell that targets foreign cells, remain incompletely understood, previous research shows that macrophages play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis and its thrombotic complications. Masanori Aikawa, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Sciences (CICS) at the Brigham, his research fellow Hiroshi Iwata, MD, PhD, and colleagues studied atherosclerosis on the protein-level to determine which molecules were most involved in the regulation of macrophages.

Once Aikawa and his colleagues narrowed down their search to these two proteins, they silenced each gene in cultured macrophages and found that tamping down PARP14 increased macrophage activation while tamping down PARP9 had the opposite effect.
Aikawa founded CICS and hopes that this hypothesis-generating method can be used to streamline the lengthy process of drug development. Aikawa and CICS are using a more systematic approach which hinges on network analysis; this analysis predicts which pathways are most likely to control their studied effect so that they can prioritize these pathways. Ideally, this process would take a fraction of the time in comparison to searching through each individual pathway unaware of their likelihood of affecting their studied effect.
Aikawa and his colleagues plan to augment these findings to develop targeted therapeutics for atherosclerosis and other diseases.
"Macrophage activation plays a role in not only vascular disorders but also various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases," said Aikawa. "These results could provide important information about the mechanisms of these diseases and help to develop much needed new therapeutics."

Source:

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Activation of two genes linked to development of atherosclerosis

And with this news a great stroke association would spring into action. Writing up an RFP to researchers to solve the problem and going after foundation grant money to pay for that research.  But we have fucking failures of stroke associations, doing absolutely nothing useful. How can their boards of directors live with themselves? A complete and total failure of leadership on display here.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-10-genes-linked-atherosclerosis.html

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have found two new potential drug targets for treating arterial diseases such as atherosclerosis. By using proteomics to screen a vast number of molecules, the researchers identified PARP9 and PARP14 - two members of the PARP family of proteins - as regulators of macrophage activation, which has been linked to arterial disease by systems biology.

Though the mechanisms that activate macrophages, a type of digestive white blood cell that targets foreign cells, remain incompletely understood, previous research shows that macrophages play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis and its thrombotic complications. Masanori Aikawa, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular Sciences (CICS) at the Brigham, his research fellow Hiroshi Iwata, MD, PhD, and colleagues studied atherosclerosis on the protein-level to determine which molecules were most involved in the regulation of macrophages.
Once Aikawa and his colleagues narrowed down their search to these two proteins, they silenced each gene in cultured macrophages and found that tamping down PARP14 increased macrophage activation while tamping down PARP9 had the opposite effect.
Aikawa founded CICS and hopes that this hypothesis-generating method can be used to streamline the lengthy process of drug development. Aikawa and CICS are using a more systematic approach which hinges on network analysis; this analysis predicts which pathways are most likely to control their studied effect so that they can prioritize these pathways. Ideally, this process would take a fraction of the time in comparison to searching through each individual pathway unaware of their likelihood of affecting their studied effect.
Aikawa and his colleagues plan to augment these findings to develop targeted therapeutics for atherosclerosis and other diseases.
"Macrophage activation plays a role in not only vascular disorders but also various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases," said Aikawa. "These results could provide important information about the mechanisms of these diseases and help to develop much needed new therapeutics."

Explore further: Macrophage accumulation of triglycerides yields insights into atherosclerosis

More information: Iwata H et al. "PARP9 and PARP14 cross-regulate macrophage activation via STAT1 ADP-ribosylation." Nature Communications DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS12849

Journal reference: Nature Communications
Provided by: Brigham and Women's Hospital

Frequent Nut Consumption Associated with Less Inflammation

Will your doctor inform you of this and add it to your diet stroke protocol?

Frequent Nut Consumption Associated with Less Inflammation

In a study of more than 5,000 people, investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found that greater intake of nuts was associated with lower levels of biomarkers of inflammation, a finding that may help explain the health benefits of nuts. The results of the study appear July 27 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
“Population studies have consistently supported a protective role of nuts against cardiometabolic disorders such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, and we know that inflammation is a key process in the development of these diseases,” said corresponding author Ying Bao, MD, ScD, an epidemiologist in BWH’s Channing Division of Network Medicine. “Our new work suggests that nuts may exert their beneficial effects in part by reducing systemic inflammation.”
Previously Bao and her colleagues observed an association between increased nut consumption and reduced risk of major chronic diseases and even death, but few prospective cohort studies had examined the link between nut intake and inflammation. In the current study, the research team performed a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Nurses’ Health Study, which includes more than 120,000 female registered nurses, and from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which includes more than 50,000 male health professionals. The team assessed diet using questionnaires and looked at the levels of certain telltale proteins known as biomarkers in blood samples collected from the study participants. They measured three well-established biomarkers of inflammation: C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL6) and tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2).
After adjusting for age, medical history, lifestyle and other variables, they found that participants who had consumed five or more servings of nuts per week had lower levels of CRP and IL6 than those who never or almost never ate nuts. In addition, people who substituted three servings per week of nuts in place of red meat, processed meat, eggs or refined grains had significantly lower levels of CRP and IL6.
Peanuts and tree nuts contain a number of healthful components including magnesium, fiber, L-arginine, antioxidants and unsaturated fatty acids such as α-linolenic acid. Researchers have not yet determined which of these components, or if the combination of all of them, may offer protection against inflammation, but Bao and her colleagues are interested in exploring this further through clinical trials that would regulate and monitor diet.
“Much remains unknown about how our diet influences inflammation and, in turn, our risk of disease,” said Bao. “But our study supports an overall healthful role for nuts in the diet and suggests reducing inflammation as a potential mechanism that may help explain the benefits of nuts on cardiometabolic diseases.”
This study was supported by the grants UM1 CA186107, UM1 CA167552, R01 CA49449, U54CA155626, and P30DK046200 from the National Institutes of Health and by a grant from the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation. This work was also conducted with the support of a KL2/Catalyst Medical Research Investigator Training award (an appointed KL2 award) from Harvard Catalyst | The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center (National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health Award KL2 TR001100).

Romney legacy expands to brain diseases

A great stroke association leader would be contacting this center to get stroke into the list of diseases needing solutions. If you know the Romneys or Brigham and Women's Hospital contact them to get stroke added. I know the ASA, NSA or WSO will not be doing this.
http://news.yahoo.com/romney-legacy-expands-brain-diseases-041714484--politics.html
Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital on Tuesday will announce the launch of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, a venture funded by the Romneys and their expansive political network that will assemble scores of the world's most accomplished doctors and scientists to collaborate against five neurological diseases that have no cure: multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, ALS, Parkinson's and brain tumors. (Stroke has no cure)

More at link