PRAIRIE DOC®
  • Home
  • About
  • People
  • Television
  • Podcasts
  • Perspective
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Foundation
  • Book

Advances in the Treatment of Stroke

9/27/2020

 

Advances in the Treatment of Stroke

By Andrew Ellsworth, M.D.
 
Weakness on one side of the body, slurred speech, facial drooping, inability to find or understand words; these are symptoms of a stroke which are typically sudden in onset. The symptoms can be subtle, or they can be severe. Regardless, rapid diagnosis and treatment is the key to recovery. 
 
Not long ago, not much could have been done for someone as they were having a stroke. Often, we could only wait and see how the patient recovered with rehabilitation. For years, prevention was the only tool we had to combat initial and recurring strokes. Preventative measures such as blood pressure control, aspirin or other blood thinners, cholesterol control, and of course, a healthy diet and exercise remain especially important today. Thankfully, we now have a few more options. 
 
Clot-busting medications have been a great advancement in the treatment of strokes since the mid-1990s. If administered soon enough, sometimes these clot-busting medications can work to break up a clot that is blocking blood flow in an area of the brain thus restoring circulation. This can help to preserve or at least minimize the area of the brain that would be permanently damaged.
 
There are risks to these meds, such as bleeding, but the chance of improving the outcome usually justifies their use. To minimize risks, the clot-busting medication must be initiated within three to four- and one-half hours following the onset of symptoms. Physicians also consider other criteria before treating with clot-busting meds, including the patient’s medical history, blood test results, and they must rule out a hemorrhagic stroke using CT imaging of the brain. A hemorrhagic stroke is when damage is done by a ruptured blood vessel rather than from blockage.  
 
More recently, technological developments have changed the emergent care offered for very severe strokes. It is now possible to manually restore blood flow to the brain using minimally invasive surgery. A surgeon inserts a system of catheters and wires into an artery in the arm or groin, advances this system up through the neck and into the brain. Then, at the location of the blood vessel blockage, the blood clot is removed and the circulation to the affected area is restored.
 
Highly specialized, this new procedure seems almost miraculous. It has been referred to as the “Lazarus” procedure as it literally brings people back to life and sometimes immediate improvement is noted as soon as during the procedure.
 
The keys are recognition and time. Know the signs and get help quickly. Think of the acronym FAST:  Face drooping? Arm weakness? Speech difficulty? Time to call 9-1-1. 

Andrew Ellsworth, M.D. is part of The Prairie Doc® team of physicians and currently practices family medicine in Brookings, South Dakota. For free and easy access to the entire Prairie Doc® library, visit www.prairiedoc.org and follow Prairie Doc® on Facebook featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc® a medical Q&A show streaming on Facebook and broadcast on SDPB most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central.        

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

PRAIRIE DOC® MEDIA IS A PART OF HEALING WORDS FOUNDATION.

FIND SCIENCE-BASED PEDIATRIC MEDICAL INFORMATION ON OUR SISTER SITE. 
Healing Words Foundation logo
Play Eat Sleep logo
  • Home
  • About
  • People
  • Television
  • Podcasts
  • Perspective
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Foundation
  • Book