Providence Medical Research Center is participating in a research project funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the National Institutes of Health. The Insulin Resistance Intervention after Stroke (IRIS) trial proposes an innovative therapy based on 20 years of accumulating evidence linking insulin resistance to increased risk for stroke and other blood vessel diseases.
Each year in the United States 700,000 persons suffer an ischemic stroke. An ischemic stroke is caused by a reduction in blood flow to the brain. This can be caused by a blockage or narrowing in a blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain or when the blood flow is reduced because of a heart or other condition. Of the 500,000 Americans who suffer this type of stroke, 100,000 will die. Among the 400,000 who survive an ischemic stroke each year, many will have another stroke or heart attack within five years.
