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    Treatment and Prevention of Strokes

    New treatments such as "neuro-rescue" stroke treatments are revolutionizing stroke care. The medical community is taking aim at improving the outcomes for stroke, currently the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disabilities in the U.S. - more.

    Stroke outcomes can be improved as well if:

    • Americans become much more aware of the warning signs of stroke - and of the urgent need for medical help if they experience one or more of them;
    • Emergency medical and hospital admissions systems are established to ensure that anyone with stroke symptoms is taken to a stroke center and treated as soon as possible;
    • More physicians are trained in interventional procedures to treat stroke. In interventional procedures, a physician inserts a catheter (thin tube) into an artery in the leg, arm or neck and guides it through the blood vessels to the site in the brain that is narrowed or blocked. He or she then delivers devices or other therapies through the catheter to open the blocked vessel and restore blood flow.

  • More Information on Treatment and Prevention of Strokes

    Conquering Stroke – Just as We Have Heart Attack

    Over the past 30 years, improvements in the treatment of heart attack have dramatically reduced the number of deaths and disabilities caused by heart attack, which occurs when blood flow to the heart muscle is blocked.

    Eat a Healthy Diet

    Watching what – and how much – you eat and drink is another key step in reducing the risk or severity of P.A.D., heart attack and stroke.

    Hemorrhagic Stroke

    Hemorrhagic stroke may be treated with surgery or interventional procedures. Depending on the stroke’s cause, your doctor may choose one of the following procedures:

    Ischemic Stroke Treatments

    Medications to break up clots. Quick treatment – within three hours of the beginning of a stroke – with “clot-busting” drugs can improve the chance of survival and reduce the likelihood of disabilities.

    Preventing Stroke

    Anyone can have a stroke. But according to the National Stroke Association, 80 percent of all strokes can be prevented.

    Stopping and Preventing Strokes

    Stroke can occur if the branch of the carotid arteries (located in the neck) that carries blood to the brain becomes narrowed or blocked due to a build up of plaque or the formation of a blood clot.

    Stroke Recovery and Resources

    An estimated five million Americans are living today after surviving stroke. As more people become aware of the warning signs of stroke and of the importance of seeking medical care quickly, as more effective treatments are developed and as emergency medical systems become organized to get stroke victims to treatment as soon as possible, the number of stroke survivors will grow.

    Treatments

    The two different types of stroke – ischemic and hemorrhagic – require different treatments. In general:

    Treatments for P.A.D.

    The earlier P.A.D. is diagnosed and the sooner treatment begins, the better the prospects – for walking pain free, remaining independent and preventing a heart attack or stroke.