What To Do When A Stroke Happens

DANBURY — Many people may not know what to do when they or someone they love has had a stroke.

“Call 911,” said Neil Culligan, MD, chief of neurology at Danbury Hospital. “Don’t drive yourself; call the ambulance and do it quickly.” Once at the hospital, he said, do your best to recall what time the stroke came on.

Dr Culligan spoke to the community at a recent Medical Town Meeting sponsored by Danbury Hospital, “Misconceptions and Realities of Stroke.” Many people are not aware, he said, that stroke victims have a better outcome when treatment is given right after a stroke.

That is because medications, called thrombolytics (TPA), can only work to save brain tissue when given within the first three hours. But unfortunately, he said, only a small percentage of patients get to the hospital soon enough, or are good candidates, to get the medications.

“Many people are uninformed and there are many myths,” he said. Dr. Culligan stressed the need to raise awareness for the symptoms and treatment of stroke. He reiterated several times throughout the meeting the importance of calling 911 immediately.

“Forty percent of people don’t know the warning signs,” he said, “and 12 percent don’t know the risk factors.”

With that said, Dr Culligan listed the warning signs of stroke, which is a sudden interruption of blood flow to the brain that causes permanent brain damage, or a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a temporary interruption of blood flow which causes transient symptoms. The warning signs are:

 Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of body;

 Sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or understanding;

 Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes;

 Sudden trouble walking, loss of balance of coordination;

 Sudden severe headache with no known cause usually from a bleeding stroke.

 Dr Culligan reiterated that strokes and TIAs are usually sudden, and come on without warning and without pain. “It only takes five to ten minutes of not getting blood flow to the brain to cause permanent damage.”

Strokes are a very serious health problem, accounting for the third leading cause of death and about 50 percent of hospitalizations for neurological programs. It is the leading cause of serious long-term disability.

But with treatment within the first three hours, many patients have an excellent outcome, according to Dr Culligan.

The best way, however, to treat a stroke is to prevent it, he said. Those at-risk for stroke includes people with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, a previous TIA, or those who smoke.

Anyone who is concerned about a risk factor should see a doctor. Anyone who needs a physician referral, can call the Danbury Hospital Medical Staff office at 797-7322. For more information regarding strokes, visit the website at www.danburyhospital.org.