Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Biotech / Medical : Biotech Valuation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: OPER8OR324 who wrote (7873)	2/16/2003 11:04:28 AM
From: Biomaven	Respond to of 52153

Well here's a serious OT post - how to quickly recognize if someone may have had a stroke. There's a narrow window (three hours) to give a clotbuster: Picking Up on Stroke Can Be as Easy as 1, 2, 3 Thu February 13, 2003 05:10 PM ET By Martha KerrPHOENIX (Reuters Health) - Three simple steps that take less than one minute can be used to determine if a person is having a stroke and should be rushed to the hospital, researchers announced here Thursday at an American Stroke Association meeting. Rapid recognition and treatment of stroke is crucial. Patients with the most common type of stroke do much better if treated with a clot-busting drug, but they only have a three-hour window to get the treatment. After that, the risk of the drug outweighs its benefits. Now experts say that three steps--asking a person to smile, to raise both arms and keep them up, and to speak a simple sentence clearly-can help bystanders gather enough information to mobilize emergency services and get the patient to the hospital rapidly. The test takes less than a minute to administer, Amy S. Hurwitz, a medical student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, told meeting attendees. Hurwitz, Dr. Jane H. Brice and other colleagues took the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS), a tool used by doctors to identify stroke, and modified it into a script to be used over-the-phone by a dispatcher and a bystander or family member. They recruited 100 hospital visitors and a group of patients from a stroke survivor support group. The volunteers played the role of a bystander, and the stroke survivors acted as the "patient" who was experiencing symptoms. A researcher acted as an emergency medical services dispatcher. Nearly all--96%--of the volunteers were able to accurately administer the three-item test under the direction of the "dispatcher," Hurwitz reported. They correctly identified arm weakness 95% of the time, facial weakness 71% of the time and speech deficits 88% of the time. Stroke treatment requires a high level of medical training, but quick identification of stroke symptoms takes less than a minute under the direction of a medically trained individual, Hurwitz told Reuters Health. "Please keep in mind that the CPSS does require a trained individual to administer the instructions and properly interpret the findings. Still, the general public should remember the three items tested by the CPSS," Hurwitz said. "Therefore, if a family member's speech unexpectedly becomes slurred or incomprehensible, you should call 911 immediately. Similarly," Hurwitz continued, "if one side of someone's body 'goes numb,' or if one side of the face droops down, you should call for help immediately." "We plan to train dispatchers in our area to administer the test as part of the next phase of our study," Hurwitz said. "We will also note the eventual diagnoses of the patients." Here's my little story to help remember the three things: Bad guy is pointing a gun at you, so what you need to do is (1) raise your arms, (2) smile at him and (3) ask him nicely not to shoot. <g> Peter