The only treatment for acute stroke must be given within three hours after the first stroke symptoms. According to Morgenstern, the number one reason people don t get treated for stroke is that they don t make it within that window of opportunity. Women took 46 percent longer to get to the hospital after a stroke than men, according to the study of 241 stroke patients admitted to Hermann Hospital in Houston. Once there, it took 49 percent longer on average for women to see a doctor. Morgenstern attributes this to the inability of most people to identify stroke as a women s disease.
Brain damage begins with the first symptom and progresses during a stroke.
The study showed that patients who come to the hospital in an ambulance arrive and are evaluated 55 percent faster than those who use a private car. Stroke symptoms are subtle, often painless, and may last only a few minutes. The University of Texas Houston Health Science Center. Permission to reprint is available upon request.