New treatment guidelines aim to prevent secondary strokes -- a stroke in someone who has previously suffered a stroke. Explaining what the guidelines entail in this week's "HealthLink on Air" is Dr. Gene Latorre, medical director of neurology for the stroke team at Upstate University Hospital. Latorre and fellow Upstate neurologist Dr. Antonio Culebras were part of a national team that created the new guidelines.
Also on the show this week, medical research can lead to lifesaving medical advances, but the research participants don’t always reflect the overall population, and it can be hard to figure out whether the research applies to patients of both sexes and differing ages and ethnic groups. An initiative at Upstate aims to recruit more people of color into research studies, which have historically focused on white, middle-aged men, and also aims to involve communities in what topics are studied. Explaining this new, broader approach are community research liaison Kathy Royal and Dr. Sharon Brangman, the chair of geriatrics at Upstate and the director of the Upstate Center for Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease.
And Dr. Elizabeth Harausz provides a look at tuberculosis, which was a leading cause of death in the United States in the 20th century. Even though this bacterial infection does not kill as many people today as it used to, it remains a disease of concern. Worldwide it is one of the leading causes of death due to an infectious disease. Harausz specializes in infectious disease and has a master’s degree in public health.
Listen to Healthlink on Air every Sunday at 6 a.m. on WRVO.