This less flamboyant way of treating stroke might make for dull television, but it is fast becoming an action-paced area of medicine.
Strokes are the third leading killer in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer .
And recent studies indicate that the new drug treatments can protect stroke victims from potentially devastating brain damage. For the past several decades, neurologists had nothing to offer people who had already suffered a stroke. Doctors could recommend preventative measures for high-risk patients, such as lowering blood pressure and reducing body weight. Patients who showed warning signs received anticoagulant drugs, including aspirin, to prevent the blood clots in the brain that cause strokes. But there was no way to help once a stroke occurred.