Stroke does not have to leave patients with permanent disabilities. New guidelines for stroke care say that the key to minimizing the effects of a "brain attack" is a speedy response by people who experience signs of stroke and the emergency caregivers who treat them, according to a panel of experts from around the country. They were brought together recently for a symposium sponsored by the neurology institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The panel described six key links in ensuring a successful "chain of recovery" from stroke:

1) quickly identify stroke symptoms you experience or see in someone else,

2) get emergency help immediately,

3) get rapid transport to appropriate treatment centers,

4) receive rapid diagnosis and treatment at the centers,

5) receive specialized treatment for any complications or the problems that led to the stroke and

6) get appropriate rehabilitation when necessary.

The panel suggests stroke signs and the chain of recovery should be as commonly known as the early warnings of a heart attack.

A stroke, also called a "brain attack," occurs when the brain is injured, either by a blood clot that blocks blood flow (ischemic stroke) or by bleeding (hemorrhagic stroke). When blood flow is cutoff to parts of the brain, it is deprived of oxygen and other nutrients it needs to function properly. If blood flow is not restored, those parts of the brain begin to die, causing a variety of disabilities such as paralysis or loss of speech. Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability.

In recent years, research on strokes has revealed several important clues to understanding blood flow to the brain and its crucial role in the treatment of acute brain attacks. Scientists have observed what is called a "therapeutic time window" following a stroke during which proper treatment can restore blood flow and reverse brain damage once thought to be permanent. Researchers emphasize that a speedy response is critical: patients must be treated within three hours to benefit from the therapy.

"Current recognition and treatment of stroke patients is usually too slow to allow therapy within the 'time window,'" said Dr. James Grotta, a key speaker at the panel's meeting who is studying rapid stroke treatments at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. His studies are funded by NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

The panel also stressed another important key to increasing patients' chances of surviving a stroke--education. The more people--those at risk for stroke, their families and friends; doctors and other medical professionals, especially emergency caregivers; and emergency response team members (such as 9-1-1dispatchers)--who know the warning signs and what to do when seeing or hearing them, the better the patient's chances of fully recovering from brain attacks. The neurology institute will issue proceedings from the symposium in Spring.--an NIH HEALTHWise report, February 1997

For more information on this study, reporters can contact:

Carla Garnett Writer and Editor, NIH phone: 301-496-2125 fax: 301-402-1485 e-mail: cg9s@nih.gov

Margo Warren Public Affairs Specialist National Institute of Neurological    Disorders and Stroke phone: 301-496-5751