The "minor stroke" that felled Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has plunged the government into crisis. ALGIERS, Algeria, April 29 (UPI) -- The "minor stroke" that felled Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has plunged the government into crisis as it is being pushed into the forefront of countering North Africa's jihadists, an enemy it's been fighting for two decades. The incapacitation of Bouteflika, 76, has heightened concerns about the stability of the energy-rich regional military heavyweight as the energy-rich country moves toward presidential elections next April amid a political power struggle. Bouteflika was flown to Paris Saturday night after suffering what the officials APS news agency termed a minor stroke. "His condition is not serious at all," said Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal, a close ally of Bouteflika. But Bouteflika's widely believed to have been in poor health for some time. He's rarely appeared in public in recent years and has repeatedly gone to France and Switzerland for medical treatment. He's dropped strong hints that he's ready to step aside for next year's election, that's likely to usher in a new era in Algerian politics. Bouteflika is one of the last of the generation of veterans who won the grueling 1954-62 war … Continue reading →

By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter TUESDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- More than one-third of people having a stroke don't call 911, even though that's the fastest route to potentially lifesaving treatment, a new study reports. "Prompt diagnosis and early management is essential to decrease morbidity and mortality after stroke," said lead researcher Dr. James Ekundayo, an assistant professor of family and community medicine at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn. "If about one-third does not arrive by ambulance, the implication is that they will have delayed evaluation and treatment with lifesaving drugs," Ekundayo said. For patients with ischemic stroke -- a blood clot blocking a blood vessel in the brain -- prior research has shown that administration of clot-busting drugs within two hours of symptom onset greatly reduces the odds of disability three months later. Ischemic stroke is more common than hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel bleeds into the brain. The study -- published April 29 in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes -- looked at how more than 200,000 stroke patients arrived at hospital emergency rooms from 2003 to 2010. About 64 percent arrived by ambulance and the rest used other forms of transportation, … Continue reading →

E-mail this page to a friend! Health & Medicine for Senior Citizens Too Many Stroke Victims Fail to Use EMS for Fastest Trip to Treatment Ethnic minorities, rural residents least likely to call 911 at onset of a stroke as recommended by American Heart Association April 30, 2013 Time is critical to stroke victims but more than a third dont get to the hospital by ambulance, even though thats the fastest way to get help, according to new research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal. Researchers studied records on more than 204,000 stroke patients arriving at emergency rooms at 1,563 hospitals participating in the American Heart Association/American Stroke Get With The Guidelines-Stroke quality improvement program in 2003-10. Emergency medical services (EMS) transported 63.7 percent of the patients, with the rest arriving in various other ways, researchers said. During a stoke emergency, quick treatment is critical. EMS transported 79 percent of those who got to the hospital within two hours of the start of their symptoms. That resulted in earlier arrival, quicker evaluation and faster treatment, said the researchers who found: Almost 61 percent of people transported by EMS got to the hospital within three hours … Continue reading →

Despite public outreach campaigns, a third of all stroke patients don't call an ambulance to get them to the hospital, leaving them vulnerable to delayed treatment and worse outcomes, according to a new study published in the journal Circulation. The authors analyzed data on more than 204,000 patients, seen at 1,563 U.S. hospitals between 2003 and 2010. Patients who arrived by ambulance were about twice as likely to arrive at a hospital quickly, and were about 50 percent more likely to receive intravenous TPA -- a clot-busting drug -- within the recommended three-hour window, when it's most effective. "Time is the essence," said Dr. O. James Ekundayo, the study's lead author and an assistant professor at Meharry Medical College in Nashville. "The earlier to the hospital, the better -- the earlier you're evaluated and given treatment." "Time is brain," adds Dr. Carolyn Brockington, director of the Stroke Center at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York. She says about 85 percent of strokes are caused by a blockage in a blood vessel in the brain, which TPA can help unclog. "People need to understand that every moment the brain is not getting enough blood flow, is producing an irreversible injury," Brockington … Continue reading →