Posted on 02/05/2005 12:52:48 PM PST by jellybean
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer
NEW ORLEANS - Ten years ago, a crucial study proved that a drug could limit the damage from one of nature's biggest train wrecks: a blood clot stuck inside the head.
The drug, TPA, was so powerful at dissolving blockages threatening to destroy regions of the brain that the first patient to get it, a 67-year-old man, regained the ability to walk and talk half an hour after it started flowing through his veins.
"The nurses at the bedside started crying. It was very dramatic," recalled Dr. William Barsan, who treated him.
TPA remains the sole drug approved for strokes. Yet only about 3 percent of victims get it.
Usually that's because they don't seek help until it's too late for the drug to do any good — three hours after symptoms start.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
They need a doctor? Isn't that the kind of thing people are responsible for providing for themselves?
They get a quality stroke and they don't even care? Ingrates.
You could do it yourself, but it's more fun if someone else is invovled! ;)
THREE OLD LADIES NAMED GERTRUDE, MAUDE, AND BETTY WERE SITTING ON A PARK BENCH HAVING A CONVERSATION, WHEN A FLASHER APPROACHED FROM ACROSS THE PARK.
THE FLASHER CAME UP TO THE LADIES, STOOD RIGHT IN FRONT OF
THEM AND TO THEIR SHOCK AND DISMAY, OPENED HIS TRENCH COAT. GERTRUDE IMMEDIATELY HAD A STROKE.
THEN MAUDE ALSO HAD A STROKE, BUT BETTY, BEING OLDER AND MORE FEEBLE, COULDN'T REACH THAT FAR.
C'mon guys, this is a series topic /:)
Try asking a doctor about it sometime. My father had a stroke right there in the hospital and all they gave him was a blood thinner. When I got there, well within the 3 hr. window and I asked about it the doc just looked at me like I had no clue and neither did he. I truly believe Dad would still be here if he'd received the TPA, instead of just a blood thinner.
My dad also had a stroke, but lived meny years after. He had many months of intensive physical and occupational therapy and was able to walk short distances with a cane. He still had difficulty with speech, but would eventually articulate his thoughts. My dad was left-handed so had to relearn everything with his right hand.
This is probably going to sound really dumb but you know where I first learned about TPA? On an episode of ER. I realize TV show medicine isn't very real but they presented the facts about TPA pretty clearly.
Interesting, because apparently patients who are already on blood thinners (like coumadin) are NOT candidates for TPA. That's one thing the article *didn't* mention - many older people already at risk for stroke (because for instance they have preexisting medical conditions like arrhythmia) are already on coumadin. If they took TPA they could have major brain hemorrhages.
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