Karen Owen, CTV Calgary Published Monday, October 27, 2014 4:43PM MDT Last Updated Monday, October 27, 2014 5:24PM MDT When it comes to stroke the saying is time is brain. It means the longer a brain is starved of oxygen-rich blood because of a stroke - the more brain function will be lost. Neurologist Dr. Eric Smith said every minute the brain isn't getting blood flow more brain cells are dying off. With that in mind, Emergency Medical Services crews in Calgary and the stroke team at the Foothills Hospital are trying to reduce the time it takes for stroke patients to start receiving diagnosis and treatment. EMS crews and the stroke team have been practicing a new protocol in which EMS skips stopping at the triage desk at the emergency department, in fact skips the emergency department entirely and takes the patient directly to the stroke team. Dr. Smith said we could shave off as many as 15 minutes. If we do that, we can save a few people from being disabled after a stroke. Fifteen minutes is a long time for a stroke patient, because as Dr. Smith said every minute counts. Bypassing the emergency department means that … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise The UCLA Comprehensive Stroke Center at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has received the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for the treatment of stroke patients. Get With The Guidelines Stroke helps hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. UCLA earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include aggressive use of medications and risk-reduction therapies aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients. UCLA also received the associations Target: Stroke Honor Roll for meeting stroke quality measures that reduce the time between hospital arrival and treatment with the clot-buster tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. People who suffer a stroke who receive the drug within three hours of the onset of symptoms may recover quicker and are less likely to suffer severe disability. At the UCLA … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 27-Oct-2014 Contact: Kim Irwin kirwin@mednet.ucla.edu 310-794-2262 University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences @uclahealth The UCLA Comprehensive Stroke Center at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has received the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for the treatment of stroke patients. Get With The Guidelines Stroke helps hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing death and disability for stroke patients. UCLA earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include aggressive use of medications and risk-reduction therapies aimed at reducing death and disability and improving the lives of stroke patients. UCLA also received the association's Target: Stroke Honor Roll for meeting stroke quality measures that reduce the time between hospital arrival and treatment with the clot-buster tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. People who suffer a stroke who receive the drug within three hours of the onset of symptoms may recover quicker and … Continue reading →

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (PRWEB) October 27, 2014 A team of UC Davis scientists has found that administering a small molecule purmorphamine in animal models after a stroke results in multiple protective effects, including reducing the size of the stroke, decreasing inflammation and increasing markers for nerve regeneration. The findings, which may offer a new approach to treating ischemic stroke the disruption of blood flow in the brain from a blood clot are published online in the journal Cell Death and Disease. We have revealed a previously unrecognized role of a developmental pathway that, when stimulated with a small molecule drug, leads to neuroprotection, regeneration and functional recovery following ischemic stroke, said Wenbin Deng, associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, and principal investigator of the study. This is an important conceptual advance that could lead to a novel treatment approach. The small molecule compound could pave the way for new medicines in the treatment of many neurological and neurodegenerative diseases." The study focused on the humorously named sonic hedgehog signaling pathway, which plays a fundamental role in the early development of the central nervous system, regulating the generation and survival of neurons and other brain cells. … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 27-Oct-2014 Contact: George Stamatis george.stamatis@uhhospitals.org 216-844-3667 University Hospitals Case Medical Center @UHhospitals CLEVELAND -- A study published in the journal International Scholarly Research Notices (ISRN) Stroke found that overall knowledge about stroke in Uganda was poor, although knowing what to do for a stroke go to the hospital was good. Researchers from higher education institutions in Uganda collaborated with those from Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center to assess residents' knowledge of stroke symptoms and treatment options. To date, public perception and level of knowledge of stroke warning signs and risk factors in Uganda have not been well studied, and researchers believe this is the first study to do so. The researchers surveyed 1,600 residents, and found that three-quarters did not know any stroke risk factors and warning signs, or recognize the brain as the organ affected. "Main findings are that stroke knowledge is poor with some groups being particularly uninformed, individuals do not personally believe stroke is something that can actually happen to them, and few individuals see primary health care workers as a resource for stroke prevention or care," the authors wrote. "While this knowledge gap is daunting, it also illuminates … Continue reading →