IN STORMY DAYS, STROKES RUN HIGHER

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 14, 1993                   TAG: 9302140015
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MIAMI BEACH, FLA.                                LENGTH: Short
IN STORMY DAYS, STROKES RUN HIGHER
Stormy weather appears to trigger deadly bleeding strokes in men, often in the late fall, while women are more vulnerable in the springtime, researchers reported Saturday.
Researchers are unsure why this happens, but they speculated nasty weather may raise blood pressure and cause other changes that make arteries burst.
They found that a kind of strokes called subarachnoid hemorrhages are likely to occur at different times of the year in men and women. In men, about 40 percent of these strokes happen in November and December. Women have about 30 percent of them in April and May - and, unlike with men, weather changes don't seem to be a factor.
Subarachnoid hemorrhages are especially disastrous forms of stroke. They strike, usually without warning, when a weak spot in one of the arteries on the surface of the brain bursts open. These weak spots, called aneurysms, typically produce no symptoms until they break.
Each year, about 30,000 Americans suffer these kinds of strokes. Between one-third and one-half die immediately, while an additional third die despite medical care. Most of those who survive are seriously impaired.
Dr. Douglas Chyatte of Northwestern University Medical School presented the latest findings at a stroke conference sponsored by the American Heart Association.
His team analyzed all 1,487 subarachnoid hemorrhages that happened during the 1980s in Connecticut. They matched patient records with hourly weather reports.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB