“Timely action will save stroke victims”

Timely action will minimisethe impact of stroke, 'brain attack,' and
with the administration of an injection within three hours it would be
possible to restore the patient's mobility. This was the message
conveyed to doctors drawn from various places of southern districts at
a workshop on stroke prevention and management organised at the Apollo
Speciality Hospitals here on Friday.
S. Meenakshi Sundaram, senior neurologist of the hospital, spoke about
four vital factors, FAST, to determine whether a patient had suffered
a stroke. He explained to reporters on the sidelines of the workshop
that a drooping face was an indicator of stroke.
If one of the arms was numb or the person experienced difficulty in
raising both the hands up together, he should be shifted to a
hospital. The third factor was slurred speech. The person should be
asked to repeat a simple sentence to identifyslur. Time was a very
important factor in saving the brain and hence the patient should be
shifted to hospital as early as possible.
An injection of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) administered within
three hours of the onset of stroke would help regain lost faculties,
he said. Karthik of Department of Neurosciences said that thepatient
could be discharged in about three days, if the injection was
administered. Though costly, the injection would bring down the
medical expenses of stroke treatment considerably, he claimed.
The workshop included interactive lectures and drill.

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