How to Deal With a Ischemic Stroke

Stroke is one of the major causes of deaths in United States. There are about 750,000 new cases of strokes every year in the U.S. Stroke damages parts of the brain and may severely affect a person's ability to talk or to use one side of the body. Ischemic strokes account for 80 percent of strokes and are caused by blockage that reduces or completely blocks the blood flow to the brain. Ischemic strokes often are classified into thrombotic strokes and embolic strokes. Thrombotic strokes are due to plaques in the artery supplying blood to the brain, while embolic strokes are caused by blood clots originated elsewhere in the body, most commonly, in the heart.Early recognition and treatment of stroke have been shown to reduce stroke mortality and morbidity.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Realize symptoms of stroke include sudden numbness or weakness in arm or leg, sometimes both arm and leg in one side of the body. Stroke victim may also experience sudden difficulty in speaking, walking or seeing and severe headache. Call 911 immediately. Early treatment of stroke (within 3 hour of symptom onset) can reduce the extent of brain damage. If the victim vomits, put him on his left side. This will help to reduce vomiting. Avoid giving food or drink since the victim may not be able to control his digestive system.

2. Prevent further brain damage by bringing back the blood flow to the damaged areas as soon as possible. Not all hospitals have the ability to perform thrombolytic therapy. Find a hospital that offers thrombolytic therapy and transport the stroke patient there.During thrombolytic treatment, a medication called tPA is injected into the blood to dissolve blood clots in the artery. The effects of tPA peak around 90 min after the symptom onset. Thus, the sooner tPA is injected into the artery. the more likely the blockage is removed by tPA. CT scan or MRI can be used to identify the location of the blockage.

3. Be aware of the side effects of thrombolytic therapy. Thrombolytic therapy may cause bleeding in the brain or, in other words, hemorrhagic stroke. Three to four percent of ischemic stroke patients treated with thrombolytic therapy will suffer from hemorrhagic stroke.

4. Know surgery can be performed to open the blocked artery and to increase blood flow to the brain. This surgical procedure is often referred to as revascularization. Evaluate the risks of revascularization before committing to the surgery. For some individuals, the risk of revascularization may exceed benefits.

5. Prevent second strokes by taking anti-platelet drugs or anticoagulant drugs to prevent formation of new blood clots. The most popular anti-platelet drug is aspirin (50-80 mg), which has been shown to reduce the risk of second stroke. Aspirin is also much cheaper in comparison to other anti-platelet drugs. Anticoagulants have several side effects, including excessive bleeding, and must be used with caution.

Resources

• Treatment of Ischemic Stroke

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