Date Time
Share
American Heart Association
Guideline Highlights:
Having a stroke caused by blocked blood vessels or a transient ischemic attack (TIA) greatly increases your chances of having a future stroke. Identifying the cause or causes of the first stroke is key to developing strategies to prevent additional strokes.
Managing blood pressure levels, reducing or quitting smoking, eating a healthy diet, and regular physical activity will reduce the risk of a second stroke, along with managing conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.
People who experience a stroke or TIA should be screened and potentially treated for the irregular heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation.
Late last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) alerted health care professionals that they are monitoring the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) and the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) for cases of young adults developing the rare heart-related complication myocarditis, after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.
May 24, 2021
Agencies in the United States and Europe are assessing reports of myocarditis developing in people who have received one of the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, although no definitive link has yet been established.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently alerted clinicians to the possible association, with the COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Technical (VaST) work group of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices releasing a brief report last week. The group heard about the “relatively few reports of myocarditis” based on data from the Department of Defense, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), and the Vaccine Safety Datalink. The cases mostly involved adolescents and young adults and tended to occur more often in males, after the second dose, and within 4 days of the shot.