A Stroke Resource for Patients and Professionals
The United States Preventive Services Task Force has recommended against routine screening for carotid artery disease. Screening for carotid artery disease is usually done with ultrasound. It is very often performed in a physician’s office. The goal of screening is to detect narrowing of the carotid artery, with the theory that it will help prevent … Read more…
The FDA has approved a new type of medication for the prevention of stroke and cardiovascular disease in selected patients with high triglyceride levels. These patients are usually treated with a type of drug known as a statin. Vascepa, the newly approved medication, is the first new type of drug to to reduce cardiovascular risk … Read more…
A new study has demonstrated that some strokes may be treated later than was previously thought. The EXTEND study, performed in Australia, treated patients with the clot dissolving medication Alteplase (tPA) between 4.5 and 9 hours after the start of the stroke, including patients that noticed their symptoms after waking from sleep. More patients who … Read more…
The treatment of stroke patients has been characterized by the need for speed. The only medical therapy available, a clot dissolving drug called tPA, was originally available for use only if it could be given less than 3 hours after the start of symptoms. This led to the development of stroke centers to treat patients … Read more…
Last month, the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association released a new guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation and management of high blood pressure in adults. This is the first comprehensive update since 2003. The most important points for the public are new thresholds for starting treatment with medications, and new levels … Read more…