Ancient American dogs almost wiped out by European breeds

A leading Oxford stroke specialist says more needs to be done to raise of awareness of the need to take rapid action after a mini-stroke in order to reduce the number of major strokes. The study of more than 2,200 patients across Oxfordshire was led by Professor Peter Rothwell, of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Stroke Theme Lead for the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. It looked at the association of the FAST [Face-Arms-Speech-Time] public education campaign with delays and failure to seek medical attention after a transient ischemic attack (TIA), or mini-stroke. Previous research by Professor Rothwell has shown that the risk of major stroke is high after a TIA, and that quick medical attention can substantially reduce that risk. However, patients often fail to recognise or act on their symptoms. Professor Rothwell said: 'The FAST campaign has been successful in getting people to respond quickly to the symptoms of major strokes, but our research has found that this public awareness campaign has not improved the response to minor stroke and TIAs. Many people ignore these more minor warning symptoms and subsequently suffer major strokes that would have been preventable.