After a Stroke, Every Second Counts

By Kate McHugh, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Every 45 seconds, someone in the United States suffers a stroke. There are treatments available to lessen the effects, but time is of the essence. Every minute that passes without treatment allows more brain cells to die. And with every hour that goes by before patients reach the hospital, the less likely they are to be eligible to receive the most effective treatment.

The drug tPA is the only approved treatment for stroke caused by blood clots in the brain. tPA can break up clots and stop or slow the damage caused by strokes if it’s given intravenously within the first three hours, or injected into the brain within six hours. But according to a new study, 69 percent of stroke victims don’t reach the hospital in the first three hours after their stroke symptoms begin, only 44 percent arrive within six hours, and 36 percent don’t get there until more than 12 hours have passed.

“The patients themselves are very unlikely to be able to get to a phone and call 911 immediately,” Lewis Morgenstern, M.D., director of the stroke program at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, and senior author of the study, told Ivanhoe. “Everyone in the community needs to be aware of what stroke symptoms are and be motivated to pick up the phone immediately and call 911.”

Dr. Morgenstern says symptoms of stroke are sudden onset of weakness or numbness on one side of the body, difficulty speaking or understanding, sudden loss of vision in one or more eyes, unexplained clumsiness or falling. These signs can happen by themselves or in some combination and can range from very severe to moderate. He says regardless of severity, the most important thing is to call 911 immediately to get the patient to the hospital within the first 30 to 60 minutes.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Lewis Morgenstern, M.D.; Stroke, 2007;38:2972-2978

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