A good read....pass it on.

[dacrazyrn]

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally...

I work in an ER and agree with ALMOST all of this. Using that word...totally...though, could give false hope, because it isn't true.
This message is also true with cardiac events also.
The problem with the totally part to me is that when you deprive brain/heart tissue of oxygen...it starts becoming injured/dying and is not replaced...so the effects of that linger. In the heart it is more critical to recognize earlier, but harder ("It's just heartburn"). The heart uses way more oxygen so happens quicker.

[Classic Finn]

Here are some photos of Finland, especially at this time of year for you
to look at and enjoy..

This time of the year is beautiful here. There are photos of other Nature here and scenery...


http://www.maion.com/photography/laplan ... tures.html

enjoy.

Classic Finn

[jeffwholmes]

I agree with dacrazyrn, there is no way to reverse all of the damage caused by a stroke. There is a chance to reverse the effects though; by this I mean the person’s ability to lead a normal life. If the symptoms are recognized early enough and the person gets to the ER within the three hour window to get a CT and receive blood thinners (clot buster) they have a very good chance at a full recovery.

What I mean by saying there is no way to reverse all of the damage caused by the stroke is, when given bloodthiners the area effected by the clot (stroke) should reperfuse but some of that tissue is already dead and can not be saved, the job of the thinner is to dissolve the clot and therefore prevent further damage.

This dose not include hemorrhagic strokes, where there is an active bleed in the brain. If given blood thinners with this type of stroke it would almost certainly be fatal.

Even with this, the person will likely need rehabilitation to regain near 100% normal function. But the good news is that this dose work when the person’s symptoms are recognized early and receive prompt medical attention.

Just to add a little more info to the questions.

1*Ask the individual to SMILE. What you are looking for is symmetry, facial drooping dose one side of the mouth seem to not be working etc.
2. *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS. One side is normally weak when affected by a stroke, if the person can’t raise both arms or raises both arms but is unable to hold one of them up for ten seconds this is a clue. It is called a pronator drift.
3. *Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE. Here what you are looking for is the ability to pronounce syllables, in WV we use the sentence the sky is always blue in West Virginia.

With all of that said, I would strongly encourage anyone that has any of the symptoms mentioned to call 911 immediately. If you do not get to the ER inside of that three hour window the stroke call is not an option due to the time limit, however there is a few studies going on now to expand this window of time.


I would like to applaud powderburn, for bringing this info to light it is a great way to get this information to the public. And if only one person is saved by this it will be worth it, hopefully it will save many.

Thanks Jeff.