Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., claiming the lives of more than 140,000 Americans each year. But many lives could be spared if treatment was given sooner. Now, a new program is aiming to speed up treatment time and save lives. Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke. "My left arm and part of my face were numb and tingling, says Brad Fahrenkamp, a stroke patient. When I went to stand up to dress myself, I fell right to the floor." But getting treatment quickly can make all the difference. Dr. Rasmussen, director of the Cerebrovascular Center at Cleveland Clinic, says the life-saving drug TPA must be delivered within four and a half hours of a stroke or less, and the sooner the better. "Unfortunately, in the United States, only between three and eight percent of Americans get TPA if they're having a stroke," says Rasmussen. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic are trying to change that with a new mobile stroke unit that travels to the emergency scene when a stroke is suspected. "I can't really think of a faster way that you could deliver stroke care to a patient," says Rasmussen. … Continue reading →

MONDAY, Jan. 5, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- People who suffer strokes in July -- the month when medical trainees start their hospital work -- don't fare any worse than stroke patients treated the rest of the year, a new study finds. Researchers investigating the so-called "July effect" found that when recent medical school graduates begin their residency programs every summer in teaching hospitals, this transition doesn't reduce the quality of care for patients with urgent medical conditions, such as stroke. "We found there was no higher rate of deaths after 30 or 90 days, no poorer or greater rates of disability or loss of independence and no evidence of a July effect for stroke patients," said the study's lead author, Dr. Gustavo Saposnik, director of the Stroke Research Center of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, in a hospital news release. For the study, published recently in the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, the researchers examined records on more than 10,300 patients who had an ischemic stroke (stroke caused by a blood clot) between July 2003 and March 2008. They also analyzed length of hospitalization, referrals to long-term care facilities and need for readmission or emergency room treatment for a stroke … Continue reading →