Treating a stroke F.A.S.T. is key to success

 Wow! You consider an 88% failure rate of tPA administration to get to full recovery a success? What is failure in your world?

Treating a stroke F.A.S.T. is key to success

SHREVEPORT, La. -- Time is of the essence in treating a stroke and that's why it's important to remember a simple acronym to help someone who may be showing symptoms. 

FAST or face, arms, speech and time. Those are the signs to look for when someone may be having a stroke, said Dr. Syed Abbas, a Willis-Knighton Health System neurologist.

“The most common ones look for are the FAST changes, or the facial droop or weakness, arm weakness, speech changes, which could be inability to speak or understand the language or slurred speech. And then always key is the time to call 911,” said Abbas.

Stroke is the most common neurological emergency. It's the result of an interruption of oxygen and nutrients to the brain.

This can happen through a blocked artery, many times from a blood clot, which is known as an ischemic stroke. A hemorrhagic stroke is one caused by the leaking or bursting of a blood vessel. In both types, brain cells start to die in minutes.

Treatment varies, depending on the severity.

“The American Heart Association and a Stroke Association recommend treating the patients who are coming to the emergency department within a four-and-a-half-hour window of having acute stroke-like symptoms,” said Abbas. “We can treat them acutely with cloth busting medications. Their goal or purpose is to dissolve the blood clot inside the brain. Also, in addition to that, we have endovascular procedures being offered now.”

One such procedure is done with a catheter to remove the clot. Regardless of the treatment, the key to success is to treat a stroke as soon as possible.

If you believe you or a loved one might be having a stroke, call 911 immediately.