American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

Many factors contribute to a patient being diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, including obesity. Research is looking at the condition's role in the treatment of stroke patients.

Stroke, particularly in younger people, could be a sign of undetected cancer, a Minnesota research team reports.

Countering the argument that hypertension is being overtreated, a University of Miami-Columbia University study found that changing the definition of high blood pressure would be a bad idea.

Following a stroke patients require a variety of rehabilitation options from physical and occupational therapy to speech therapy among others. A recent study looked at the benefits of aerobic exercise in the recovery process.

It's too soon to say whether Vitamin D is a player or just a bystander in the assault on the brain during a stroke, but low levels of the supplement are associated with greater tissue damage in stroke patients, a University of Massachusetts Medical School team found. Reporting at the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference in Nashville, Tenn., Nils Henninger, MD said low vitamin D level predicts more severe strokes and poorer health afterwards.

The treatment a stroke patient gets can sometimes be determined by where they go for their care. The imaging used to determine treatment options however can be almost universal when used correctly.

Surviving a stroke but driving a month afterwards could mean a higher chance of causing a motor vehicle accident, two small Canadian studies have found. In research presented at the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in Nashville, Tenn, two graduate students reported on serious driving errors patients made post-stroke. They were tested on driving simulators.

With CT scans and MRI doctors can get a clearer picture of a stroke patient's condition and how best to treat them.

There are many treatment options for stroke patients and many advancements in the field recently with some being more aggressive than others. The benefits of each also pose potential problems for patients.

At the International Stroke Conference in Nashville, Marion Buckwalter, MD, PhD, presented the results of a study looking at the link between B Lymphocytes and dementia in mice. The study could help with the treatment of post-stroke human patients in the future.

Quickly removing clots inside the arteries of patients who have suffered ischemic strokes works far better than simply trying to dissolve the obstructions with drugs like tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) a 22-center study of 316 such patients found. The trial was called ESCAPE, which stands for Endovascular treatment for Small Core and Anterior circulation Proximal occlusion with Emphasis on minimizing CT to recanalization time

Interventional neurology is having a good run at the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference. In addition to the favorable results of the trial known as ESCAPE, in which adding clot removal (endovascular thrombectomy) to clot dissolving therapy showed dramatic outcomes, a related study called EXTEND-IA also showed benefits for stroke patients. A third study known as SWIFT PRIME reached similar conclusions.

Kyra Becker, MD, chair of the International Stroke Conference 2015 Program Committee, discusses several key topics of interest to watch for at this year's event.