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10 Things Your Primary Care Doctor Does That Should Make You Run for the Hills
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Dr Orrange received her BA in Biology at the University of California San Diego and a Masters Degree in Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health She received her MD from the USC Keck School of…
FAST FACTS
Brain attack: Stroke strikes fast. You should too.
The message is loud and clear for warning signs of a heart attack but I am always alarmed to hear how many patients of mine don't seek help right away when suffering a minor stroke or TIA (transient ischemic attack). May is National Stroke Awareness Month and we have a message to get across to our friends and loved ones. The new public education message adopted by a national stroke coalition "Stroke strikes fast. You should too. Call 9-1-1." Stroke is a medical emergency and we can reduce the death and disability caused by stroke with quick action. I will never forget as a resident in the emergency room at UC San Diego receiving a patient who was within the "stroke window" of 3 hours of onset of her symptoms and received tPA....within minutes significant deficits vanished before our eyes..
What symptoms SHOULD I worry about? The list of stroke symptoms that we need to seek immediate help for:
1) Sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body;
2) Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding;
3) Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes;
4) Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination; and
5) Sudden severe headache with no known cause.
What can be done? The "stroke window" is the time elapsed between when you were without symptoms to when you developed symptoms (this is difficult if you wake up with the symptoms because we can't gage it). If you arrive to an Emergency room within the "stroke window" of 3 hours (3-4.5 hours and you may also be considered a candidate) timely restoration of blood flow using thrombolytic therapy is attempted to salvage ischemic brain tissue that is not already infarcted. There is a narrow window during which this can be accomplished, since the benefit of thrombolysis decreases over time. RAPID determination of patients who are eligible for thrombolysis is key to stroke management as intravenous tPA results in complete resolution of stroke symptoms in significantly more patients than if we do nothing.
What is a TIA? Some folks refer to this as a "mini stroke". The classic definition of a transient ischemic attack (TIA) is the sudden onset of a focal neurologic symptom and/or sign that lasts less than 24 hours and is presumably brought on by a transient decrease in blood supply. A TIA is different from a stroke because the deficits reverse on their own.
If I've had symptoms that resolved on their own at home should I still come in? Yes, this may have been a TIA and stroke prevention after TIA is crucial. With close follow up we can reduce your chance of future stroke so even if you are NOT sure you suffered a TIA come see us and let us decide. If we intervene at this point we can prevent a future stroke.
"The stroke caused me to lose faith, and it was a cold, cold place, and I suddenly realized it was fierce grace... that turned my life around." Ram Dass
Dr O.
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Alcoholism
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Aneurysms
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Angina
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Antiphospholipid Syndrome
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Arrhythmias
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Diabetes Type 2
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Dialysis
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Stroke
Displaying comments 11-1 of 11
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She's breathing on her own which is good, but is unable to speak clearly. Doctors gave her meds for the heart attack but as a side effect, the brain began bleeding. Is this common? Need some info on what to expect. She's 69.
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However strokes are one of the few things those poeple are good for. Maybe strokes were invented to give neurologists something to do.