When stroke symptoms occur, quick action is vital. Warning signs can begin anywhere from a few minutes to days before a stroke. If you think you or someone with you is having a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA), seek immediate medical attention. If you can’t reach your doctor by telephone, go to a hospital emergency room – preferably one that specializes in treating acute stroke. If you know you are at risk for stroke, find out ahead of time the name and location of the nearest hospital that specializes in treating acute stroke.
Even if you aren’t knowingly at risk, it’s smart to become familiar with the symptoms that can herald a stroke. If you experience any of the following symptoms, call 911 immediately or go to an emergency room.
• Weakness in an arm, hand, or leg
• Numbness on one side of the body
• Sudden dimness or loss of vision, particularly in one eye
• Sudden difficulty speaking
• Inability to understand what someone is saying
• Dizziness or loss of balance
• Sudden, excruciating headache
Time is of the essence when you’re having a stroke. The sooner you get medical attention, the better your chances of recovery. Since the 1980s, researchers have developed rapid, safe, and effective diagnostic techniques that accurately identify the extent and location of a stroke and the nature of the vascular problem causing it. The goal of treatment is to restore blood circulation before brain tissue dies. The time frame for reaching this goal is frighteningly slim. Treatment usually has to begin within 60 minutes of a stroke to prevent brain-cell death that is significant enough to cause disability.
One of the main clot-dissolving drugs, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), is best given early. People treated with tPA one hour after the onset of a stroke were more than three times as likely to survive with few disabilities compared with those treated two hours after stroke onset, according to two trials sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. An important goal of research is to find treatments that can buy time by protecting the patient’s brain until blood circulation is restored, thus improving the odds of survival and decreasing disability.
Even if you aren’t knowingly at risk, it’s smart to become familiar with the symptoms that can herald a stroke. If you experience any of the following symptoms, call 911 immediately or go to an emergency room.
• Weakness in an arm, hand, or leg
• Numbness on one side of the body
• Sudden dimness or loss of vision, particularly in one eye
• Sudden difficulty speaking
• Inability to understand what someone is saying
• Dizziness or loss of balance
• Sudden, excruciating headache
Time is of the essence when you’re having a stroke. The sooner you get medical attention, the better your chances of recovery. Since the 1980s, researchers have developed rapid, safe, and effective diagnostic techniques that accurately identify the extent and location of a stroke and the nature of the vascular problem causing it. The goal of treatment is to restore blood circulation before brain tissue dies. The time frame for reaching this goal is frighteningly slim. Treatment usually has to begin within 60 minutes of a stroke to prevent brain-cell death that is significant enough to cause disability.
One of the main clot-dissolving drugs, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), is best given early. People treated with tPA one hour after the onset of a stroke were more than three times as likely to survive with few disabilities compared with those treated two hours after stroke onset, according to two trials sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. An important goal of research is to find treatments that can buy time by protecting the patient’s brain until blood circulation is restored, thus improving the odds of survival and decreasing disability.
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