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Stroke Patients “Missing Out” On Urgent Treatment

Wednesday 10 May 2006

A clot-busting treatment commonly used in America and parts of Europe could greatly improve the recovery rates of stroke survivors in Northern Ireland, according to an expert in the field.

A clot-busting treatment commonly used in America and parts of Europe could greatly improve the recovery rates of stroke survivors in Northern Ireland, according to an expert in the field.

But at the moment only a tiny fraction of stroke sufferers in the UK are offered it.

Professor Alastair Buchan, of the Nuffield Department of Medicine at Oxford University, was speaking at a research conference at the Royal Victoria Hospital organised by Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke.
“Stroke must be treated as a brain attack and managed with the same urgency as a heart attack,” said Prof Buchan. “If patients are admitted quickly, scanned quickly and offered thrombolysis treatment within 90 minutes, they have three times the chance of making a full recovery. Even if they are treated within three hours, their chances of a full recovery increase by half. But only two or three in every hundred patients are receiving it in the UK.”

According to NI Chest, Heart and Stroke Chief Executive Andrew Dougal, it is quite possible for the treatment to be given to a lot more people even within the current constraints of the Health Service.
He said: “This treatment has been available in the United States for almost 10 years. It is commonly given in Germany and Netherlands, but very few patients in Northern Ireland benefit from it currently. We have asked for a meeting with the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health, Social Services & Public Safety to discuss this issue. In those patients who are suitable for treatment it can mean the difference between recovery and long-term disability.”


The charity points out that it is equally important for members of the public to recognise the symptoms of stroke so that the patient reaches hospital as quickly as possible.
These are:
[ul][li]Sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arms or legs
[li]Sudden numbness in ankles, moving up legs
[li]Sudden weakness in a leg, arm or face on one side of the body
[li]Sudden loss of vision or dimming of vision, particularly in one eye
[li]Loss of speech, trouble talking or understanding speech
[/ul]
[b]Ends[/b]

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