Women, Minorities May be Undertreated for Stroke

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“Even though the clot-busing treatment for stroke called tPA improves recovery, some people who are eligible to receive the treatment are not getting it,” said study author Steven R. Messe, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. “We wanted to find out what factors were associated with lower likelihood of treatment, which may help us find ways to improve tPA use in the future.” For the study, researchers looked back at more than eight years of hospital records from the country of people with an ischemic stroke who arrived at the hospital within two hours after the start of stroke symptoms and had no documented reasons they could not receive the treatment. The treatment, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), can be used only for ischemic strokes, which are caused by blood clots. It cannot be used for hemorrhagic strokes, which are caused by bleeding. To read more, click here.

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