Stroke signs.

• Localización: Scientific American, ISSN 0036-8733, Vol. 292, Nº. 5, 2005, págs. 34-34
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This article reports that patients who suffer a major ischemic stroke--the narrowing or blocking of arteries that chokes off blood flow to the brain--often experience prior symptoms that do not result in injury. In most cases, these transient ischemic attacks preceded major strokes by no more than a week, according to a recent study of 2,416 patients. Physicians should begin preventive treatment within hours of a mini stroke rather than taking weeks to assess a patient, as some studies have found. Percent of strokes that are ischemic: 80. Typical length of a mini stroke: 5 minutes. Percent of ischemic stroke patients who experience a prior mini stroke: 15 to 30. Annual number of strokes in the U.S.: 700,000. Number resulting in death: 168,000. Total number of survivors: 4.7 million. Amount spent every year on stroke-related medical costs and disability: $51 billion.