The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported on the results of 2 different studies that involved the clot dissolving drug Activase, also known as tPA, and its affect on stroke patients. In one of the studies the researchers looked at the treatment of 3,948 stroke patients admitted to Cleveland area hospitals from July 1997 through June 1998. TPA is regarded as being helpful only if administered within 3 hours after the initial stroke. Only 70 of the patients fell within this grouping. The second study involved researchers at multi-center hospitals including Stanford University Medical Center and at 23 other academic hospitals and 33 community hospitals.
Stroke is a type of brain injury that is frightening to both the patient and the family.
It is caused by reduced blood flow to the brain as result of blockage or the leaking of blood into the brain following the bursting of a blood vessel. A major goal of any treatment would be to limit the extent of damage, or find ways to reverse the extent of the damage. Drugs are presently available that are effective when the stroke is treated within three hours of its occurrence. Researchers now appear to have found a method to counteract the effects of a stroke after this initial phase. This involves the brain's capability of making new connections under the right conditions.