Roadblock in Treating Stroke Symptoms
Roadblock in Treating Stroke Symptoms
March 23, 2006 -- New research shows why some people delay seeking treatment for stroke symptoms.
Those patients may size up their symptoms and wrongly decide their problem isn't urgent enough to get emergency care. That may be a dangerous mistake.
So says a study of 209 patients hospitalized for ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke. In ischemic stroke, blood flow to the brain is blocked. Clot-busting drugs can help, but those drugs must be given within the first few hours after symptoms start.
The new study, published online in Stroke, shows that patients' attitudes about their symptoms -- and help from bystanders -- affected how quickly patients sought medical care.
Stroke is the No. 3 cause of death for American men and women, according to the CDC. Stroke is also a major cause of disability.
All of the patients were treated at the same public hospital in Israel. The researchers included Lori Mandelzweig, PhD, of Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel.
The patients were interviewed two to 10 days after being hospitalized for ischemic stroke. If their condition prevented interviews, patients' family members were interviewed.
The interviewers asked how much time passed from the start of stroke symptoms to first contact with medical personnel and hospital arrival. Other questions covered help from bystanders and whether patients called for ambulances when they noticed stroke symptoms.
Patients were about 61 years old, on average. Sixty-nine percent were men.
After noticing the start of symptoms, patients took anywhere from half an hour to nine hours to seek help and 1.3 hours to more than 14 hours to get to the hospital. The researchers considered hospital arrival to be late if it happened more than three hours after symptoms started.
Those patients may size up their symptoms and wrongly decide their problem isn't urgent enough to get emergency care. That may be a dangerous mistake.
So says a study of 209 patients hospitalized for ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke. In ischemic stroke, blood flow to the brain is blocked. Clot-busting drugs can help, but those drugs must be given within the first few hours after symptoms start.
The new study, published online in Stroke, shows that patients' attitudes about their symptoms -- and help from bystanders -- affected how quickly patients sought medical care.
Stroke is the No. 3 cause of death for American men and women, according to the CDC. Stroke is also a major cause of disability.
Stroke Survivors Interviewed
All of the patients were treated at the same public hospital in Israel. The researchers included Lori Mandelzweig, PhD, of Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel.
The patients were interviewed two to 10 days after being hospitalized for ischemic stroke. If their condition prevented interviews, patients' family members were interviewed.
The interviewers asked how much time passed from the start of stroke symptoms to first contact with medical personnel and hospital arrival. Other questions covered help from bystanders and whether patients called for ambulances when they noticed stroke symptoms.
Patients were about 61 years old, on average. Sixty-nine percent were men.
After noticing the start of symptoms, patients took anywhere from half an hour to nine hours to seek help and 1.3 hours to more than 14 hours to get to the hospital. The researchers considered hospital arrival to be late if it happened more than three hours after symptoms started.
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