Atrial fibrillation (A-fib) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, currently affecting over 5 million people in the U.S. Twenty percent of all strokes occur in patients with A-fib; and A-fib-related strokes are more frequently fatal and disabling. The most common treatment to reduce stroke risk in patients with A-fib is a blood-thinning medication such as…
“Beverly Hills, 90210″ star Luke Perry died less than a week after suffering a major stroke. He was just 52 years old. Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States. While most strokes occur in people over age 65, they are not limited to this…
Metastatic bone disease, or metastatic cancer to the bone, is a secondary bone cancer that originates somewhere else in the body and then spreads to the bones. Metastatic cancer commonly starts as breast, lung, kidney, or prostate cancer. When cancer cells spread to the bones from other areas, the cancer cells in the bones resemble…
Norton Neuroscience Institute is offering a new treatment for brain aneurysms. According to Tom Yao, M.D., neurosurgeon with Norton Neuroscience Institute, the Woven EndoBridge (WEB) device was approved by the Food and Drug Administration recently. Norton Neuroscience Institute is one of the first two centers in Kentucky to offer the procedure. “The WEB device potentially…
Common brain tumor types, such as astrocytoma and glioblastoma, can be hard to pronounce and difficult to understand. “Generally, it’s critically important to understand whether a brain tumor is primary or metastatic,” said Renato V. LaRocca, M.D., a neuro-oncologist and cancer medicine specialist with Norton Cancer Institute. “Primary means the tumor originated in the brain….
Kentucky and Indiana face many challenges when it comes to the health of their residents. They rank among the worst states for obesity and physical inactivity, health outcomes such as diabetes, and cancer and heart disease deaths. Many of these diseases affect African Americans at higher rates. Giavonne D. Rondo-Hillman, M.D., internal medicine physician with…
Epilepsy is a neurological condition diagnosed after a person has two or more seizures without another cause. Epilepsy can have a significant effect on quality of life for individuals and entire families. A person with uncontrolled seizures should not drive, swim, climb a ladder or sometimes even cook without supervision. Here are four facts you…
Rep. Kim King has represented central Kentucky’s 55th District for almost a decade. She knows the halls of the state Capitol by heart and has cast hundreds of votes on the House floor. But this year’s legislative session takes on a different meaning for the Harrodsburg, Kentucky, native. Just four months ago, she learned that…
Heart disease kills more Americans than any other disease, and according to the American Heart Association, African Americans may face a higher risk for heart disease compared with other groups. Kelly C. McCants, M.D., cardiologist and medical director of Norton Heart & Vascular Institute Advanced Heart Failure Program, said uncontrolled high blood pressure is the…
You’ve probably heard about scoliosis in kids, but did you know adults can have it too? Scoliosis is a condition in which the spine develops a curvature. In adults, sometimes that curvature develops in childhood but doesn’t cause issues until adulthood, and sometimes the curvature develops later in life. Steven Glassman, M.D., orthopedic spine specialist with Norton…
For Jonathan H. Reinstine, M.D., becoming a surgeon was in the cards almost from the start. Coming from a family that included pediatric and general surgeons, he knew that’s what he wanted to do. What he didn’t know was the specialty. “I was going to be a pediatric surgeon originally,” said Dr. Reinstine, an OB/GYN…
Studies show that African Americans’ risk for stroke and stroke disability is higher than that of other groups. Lacy Shumway, stroke outreach coordinator for Norton Neuroscience Institute, explains some of the statistics from the National Stroke Association and discusses what health care providers and other partners can do to decrease the risk of stroke for…