See if your doctor thinks this may be useful for your prevention. At least find out if you are considered high risk.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20121122/Tirofiban-effectively-prevents-strokes-in-high-risk-patients.aspx
Scientists may have discovered a new way to prevent strokes
in high risk patients, according to research from the University of
Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW).
Work by a new research group, led by Professor Donald Singer, Professor
of Therapeutics at Warwick Medical School and Professor Chris Imray
from UHCW, has now been published in US journal Stroke.
The group is using ultrasound
scanning to look at patients with carotid artery disease, one of the
major causes of stroke. Clots can form on diseased carotid arteries in
the neck. Small parts of these clots can released to form microemboli,
which can travel to block key brain
arteries and lead to weakness, disturbed speech, loss of vision and
other serious stroke syndromes. Standard anti-platelet drugs such as
aspirin may not prevent the formation of harmful microemboli.
The scanning process can be used to find patients at very high risk of
stroke because microemboli have formed despite prior anti-platelet
drugs. Using scanning, the team has found that tirofiban, another
anti-platelet drug designed to inhibit the formation of blood clots,
can suppress microemboli where previous treatment such as aspirin has
been ineffective. In their study, tirofiban was more effective than
other 'rescue' treatment.
Professor Singer said: "These findings show that the choice of rescue
medicine is very important when carotid patients develop microemboli
despite previous treatment with powerful anti-platelet drugs such as
aspirin. We now need to go on to further studies of anti-microemboli
rescue treatments, to aim for the right balance between protection and
risk for our patients."
Professor Imray said: "These findings show the importance of ultrasound
testing for micro-emboli in carotid disease patients. These biomarkers of high stroke risk cannot be predicted just from assessing the severity of risk factors such as smoking history, cholesterol and blood pressure."
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