Stroke is an acute neurological dysfunction attributed to a focal injury of the central nervous system due to reduced blood flow to the brain. Nowadays, stroke is a global threat associated with premature death and huge economic consequences. Hence, there is an urgency to model the effect of several risk factors on stroke occurrence, and artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be the appropriate tool. In the present study, we aimed to (i) develop reliable machine learning (ML) prediction models for stroke disease; (ii) cope with a typical severe class imbalance problem, which is posed due to the stroke patients’ class being significantly smaller than the healthy class; and (iii) interpret the model output for understanding the decision-making mechanism. The effectiveness of the proposed ML approach was investigated in a comparative analysis with six well-known classifiers with respect to metrics that are related to both generalization capability and prediction accuracy. The best overall false-negative rate was achieved by the Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) classifier (18.60%). Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) were employed to investigate the impact of the risk factors on the prediction output. The proposed AI method could lead to the creation of advanced and effective risk stratification strategies for each stroke patient, which would allow for timely diagnosis and the right treatments.

This systematic review explores the multifaceted challenges faced by caregivers of stroke survivors, addressing the global impact of strokes and the anticipated rise in survivors over the coming decades. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a thorough literature search identified 34 relevant studies published between 2018 and 2023. The review categorizes caregiver burden into four domains: physical health, social functioning, financial issues, and psychological health. Caregivers often experience a decline in physical health, marked by chronic fatigue, sleep disturbances, and pain. Emotional distress is prevalent, leading to anxiety and depression, especially in cases of high burden. Financial strains arise from medical expenses and employment changes, exacerbating the overall burden. Contextual factors, such as cultural norms and resource availability, influence the caregiver experience. The Newcastle–Ottawa scale assessed the methodological quality of studies. The conclusion emphasizes tailored interventions and support systems for caregivers, with practical recommendations for healthcare professionals, therapists, mental health professionals, financial counselors, and policymakers. This comprehensive review enhances the understanding of caregiver experiences and provides actionable insights to improve stroke care and rehabilitation The study’s novelty lies in its holistic examination of caregiver burden in stroke care, its focus on the recent literature, and its emphasis on forecasting caregiver outcomes, contributing valuable insights for proactive intervention strategies.

Ischemic stroke (IS) exhibits significant heterogeneity in terms of etiology and pathophysiology. Several recent studies highlight the significance of inflammation in the onset and progression of IS. White blood cell subtypes, such as neutrophils and monocytes, participate in the inflammatory response in various ways. On the other hand, high-density lipoproteins (HDL) exhibit substantial anti-inflammatory and antioxidant actions. Consequently, novel inflammatory blood biomarkers have emerged, such as neutrophil to HDL ratio (NHR) and monocyte to HDL ratio (MHR). Literature research of two databases (MEDLINE and Scopus) was conducted to identify all relevant studies published between 1 January 2012 and 30 November 2022 dealing with NHR and MHR as biomarkers for IS prognosis. Only full-text articles published in the English language were included. Thirteen articles have been traced and are included in the present review. Our findings highlight the utility of NHR and MHR as novel stroke prognostic biomarkers, the widespread application, and the calculation of which, along with their inexpensive cost, make their clinical application extremely promising.

This study aims to explore the associations between nutritional status and health-related quality of life, physical activity, and sleep quality in older exclusively Caucasian adults from Greec who were free of any severe disease. This is a cross-sectional study. Mini Nutritional Assessment was used to assess nutritional status, health-related quality of life was assessed using the Short Form Healthy Survey questionnaire, sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and physical activity levels were assessed via the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. 3405 community-dwelling men and women, over 65 years old from14 different Greek regions were enrolled. Ten-point four percent (10.4%) of the participants were classified as malnourished, while 35.6% were “at risk of malnutrition”. A better nutritional status was significantly and independently associated with higher physical activity levels (p = 0.0011) and better quality of life (p = 0.0135), as well as better sleep quality (p = 0.0202). In conclusion, our study highlights the interrelationships between a good nutritional status, a high-quality sleep, active lifestyle, and good quality of life. Further interventional studies are needed to clarify the associations, and test the feasibility of improving the nutritional status, physical activity levels and sleep quality of the elderly, and the impact of these changes on quality of life, and healthy ageing in races beyond Caucasian populations. Public health strategies and policies should be recommended to inform older adults for the necessity to improve their nutritional status and lifestyle habits to improve their health status and to obtain better life expectancy.

Background and Purpose. Cerebral white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are regarded as typical MRI expressions of small-vessel disease (SVD) and are common in hypertensive patients. Hypertension induces pathologic changes in macrocirculation and in microcirculation. Changes in microcirculation may lead to SVD of brain and consequently to hypertensive end-organ damage. This damage is regarded the result of interactions between the macrovascular and microvascular levels. We sought to investigate the association of cerebral WMHs with ultrasonographic parameters of cerebral macrocirculation evaluated by carotid duplex ultrasound (CDU) and transcranial doppler (TCD). Subjects and Methods. The study was prospective, cross-sectional and consecutive and included hypertensive patients with brain MRI with WMHs. Patients underwent CDU and TCD. The clinical variables recorded were demographic characteristics (age, gender, race) and vascular risk factors (hypertension, diabetic mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, current smoking, and body mass index). Excluded from the study were patients with history of clinical stroke (including lacunar stroke and hemorrhagic) or transient ischemic attack (either hemispheric or ocular), hemodynamically significant (>50%) extra- or intracranial stenosis, potential sources of cardioembolism, and absent transtemporal windows. WMHs were quantified with the use of a semiquantitative visual rating method. Ultrasound parameters investigated were (1) common carotid artery (CCA) diameter and intima-media thickness, (2) blood flow velocity in the CCA and internal carotid artery (ICA), and (3) blood flow velocity and pulsatility index of middle cerebral artery (MCA). Results. A total of 52 patients fulfilled the study inclusion criteria (mean age years, 54% men, median WMH-score: 20). The only two ultrasound parameters that were independently associated with WMH score in multivariate linear regression models adjusting for demographic characteristics and vascular risk factors were increased mean common carotid artery (CCA) diameter (, , , %) and increased middle cerebral artery pulsatility index (MCA-PI; , , , %). Among all ultrasound parameters the highest AUC (areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve) were documented for MCA-PI (, 95% CI = 0.68−0.95, ) and mean CCA diameter (, 95% CI = 0.67−0.92, ). Conclusions. Our study showed that in hypertensive individuals with brain SVD the extent of structural changes in cerebral microcirculation as reflected by WMHs burden is associated with the following ultrasound parameters of cerebral macrocirculation: CCA diameter and MCA-PI.

We sought to longitudinally evaluate the potential association of educational level with performance on verbal and nonverbal tasks in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We evaluated patients with MCI, age >50 years, no medication intake, absent vascular risk factors, and no lesions on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Each patient underwent a clinical assessment packet and a series of neuropsychological tests of the language and constructional praxis subtests of Cambridge Cognitive Examination (CAMGOG) and the Boston naming test (BNT), at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Educational levels were defined taking into account the total years of education, the school level, and diplomas. MCI patients with low education level showed a stepwise reduction in scores of naming objects (NO; P = 0.009), definition (DF; P = 0.012), language (LT; P = 0.021), constructional praxis (CD; P = 0.022), confrontation naming skills (BXB; P = 0.033), phonemic help (BFB; P = 0.041), and BNT (P = 0.002). Analysis of covariance, controlling for baseline scores, showed that education was associated with NO score (P = 0.002), DF score (P = 0.005), LT (P = 0.008), CD score (P = 0.008), BXB score (44.36 ± 1.84, P = 0.0001), BFB (P = 0.022), and BNT (P = 0.004). Our findings indicate that education appeared to affect verbal and nonverbal task performance in MCI patients. Despite the fact that higher educated patients are more acquainted with the tasks, slower deterioration in consecutive follow‐up examinations could be explained by the cognitive reserve theory. The potential association of this protective effect with delayed onset of symptoms deserves further investigation.