Stroke victims too slow to call 999

Completely the wrong title. Blaming the victim mentality.
The correct title. NHS not researching possible therapies that can save trillions of neurons in the first week after a stroke. Call the news team and demand a retraction.
I've even conveniently compiled 177 options  for you to give to them

Hyperacute options for stroke

 Point them to these dozens of possibilities needing research. You need to make a fuss about this, no one else is doing their job.
http://news.uk.msn.com/health/stroke-victims-too-slow-to-call-999
People who are suffering a stroke are too slow to dial 999 even if they recognise the signs of the potentially deadly condition, according to new research.
Every year 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke and if they receive clot-busting drugs within the first few hours their chances of a full recovery are much greater.
But a paper published in the PLOS One journal showed patients delayed calling the emergency services.
Researchers investigated the reason for people's reluctance and found fear and denial were factors, while others did not want to "make a fuss".
Contacting their family, friends or GP before ringing 999 delayed some stroke patients' journeys to hospital for treatment.
The findings from interviews at three acute stroke units in the North East showed some patients had knowledge of the condition from seeing it in TV shows and adverts.
The widely-publicised Act FAST campaign had raised awareness of stroke in some patients, but did not necessarily increase any sense of urgency, particularly if they experienced symptoms different from those highlighted in the campaign.
Martin White, professor of public health at Newcastle University and lead author of the paper, said: "People need to know that you may get some or all of the symptoms, and maybe not in the same order. If you suspect yourself or someone else is having a stroke you should call 999 straight away so life-saving treatment can be given."
Co-researcher Joan Mackintosh, research associate at Newcastle University, said: "Every minute counts and delayed treatment means patients are more likely to lose their independence, with consequences for themselves and their carers.
"Even a slight delay, for example calling your GP instead of calling the emergency services straight away, can have a big effect. The message has to be, dial 999 if any of the symptoms of a stroke appear, even if it's not all of them."

‘Ambu-lysis’ edges closer for stroke patients

This could be rolled out much faster if they would look at  diagnosis therapies that don't require a CT scan and a neurologist like these 11 possibilities.  Do people working with stroke ever think at all?
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20121217/e28098Ambu-lysise28099-edges-closer-for-stroke-patients.aspx
A pilot trial of giving suitable stroke patients intravenous thrombolysis before their arrival in hospital has produced promising results.
Some aspects of the system have been tested previously, but this trial - the Pre-Hospital Acute Neurological Treatment and Optimization of Medical care in Stroke (PHANTOM-S) study - is the first in which suitable patients actually received thrombolysis in the ambulance.
Although a pilot study, the results indicate that the approach could significantly cut onset-to-treatment time, say lead researcher Joachim Weber (Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany) and team. The average time between the call to the emergency services and receipt of thrombolysis was 62 minutes in the 23 patients who ultimately received tissue plasminogen activator (tPA).
By comparison, the average call-to-thrombolysis time for 50 consecutive patients treated at the same center before the study began was 98 minutes.
The dedicated ambulance, or stroke emergency mobile unit (STEMO), was fitted with a computed tomography (CT) scanner, point-of-care laboratory, and a teleradiology system; operated by a neurologist, paramedic, and radiographer; and was dispatched whenever a stroke was suspected.
Over a period of just under 3 months, the STEMO attended 152 stroke patients, of whom 77 consented to inclusion in the study. Of these, 45 had an acute ischemic stroke with 23 eligible patients given tPA, although one patient was treated on hospital arrival because the STEMO-based CT scanner malfunctioned.
"Although tPA was restricted to patients able to give informed consent, we managed to treat 23 patients in a short time period of 52 days," comment Weber et al in Neurology. "The high frequency of specific stroke treatment is relevant when taking into account the significant financial and personnel efforts of such a new infrastructure."
The study did not raise any particular safety concerns, notes the team. Two patients given tPA developed symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage within 7 days of treatment. One of these patients died, but of an unrelated cause (sepsis).
In a related editorial, Lee Schwamm (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA) and Sidney Starkman (University of California, Los Angeles, USA) say that the main question is whether the findings can be replicated in other countries and healthcare systems.
"The level of training and experience in the vehicle will be challenging to replicate in a sustainable manner in urban centers, much less in rural areas," they say.
But they suggest: "As long as the number of patients treated by this new model of 'ambu-lysis' generates sufficient quality-adjusted life-years at acceptable cost and without dramatic disparities in access to care, adoption is likely to occur."

Now, a 'cooling' cap to treat stroke patients

This can join all the other cooling devices. Someone has to do the research for which is best. Other devices;
1. the cold cure for brain injury,
2. neck cooler,
3. Arctic Sun 5000,
4. Cool Aid Drug,
5. brain cooling helmet,
6. RhinoChill IntraNasal Cooling System,
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Wellness/Caps-to-save-lives-of-stroke-victims/Article1-951503.aspx
Call up your emergency ambulance service and make sure they are following these research results and point-blank ask them when they are going to supply all their vehicles with this stuff.  But you know me, I'm not medically trained and thus can't suggest anything useful. You do know that patients are only here to hand over money to the medical staff. There is nothing in your contract with your doctors that they provide guaranteed results.

nitroglycerin for stroke?

I hadn't heard about this but someone searched for nitroglycerin cream for stroke victims. and got directed to my blog.
In the book

Pharmacology for the Ems Provider 2002 - are nitroglycerin instructions for ischemic and hemorrhagic survivors, link below and search for nitroglycerin, page 296-7 contains what your ER doctor is probably interested in.  So when in the ER ask your ER doctor what they are doing to prevent neuronal death.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Dhn5ToVru6YC&pg=PA296&lpg=PA296&dq=nitroglycerin+cream+for+stroke+victims.&source=bl&ots=cNFg6USRS9&sig=eBPzFGHL4X0G2CFaA8OBsHF_ylU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WUNvUJ_HJcHkygGKi4HoCA&ved=0CCIQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=nitroglycerin%20cream%20for%20stroke%20victims.&f=false

A Utah State Stroke System Toolkit - June 2010 -  below also contains instruction on use. 43 pages.
ReceivingStrokeFacility Toolkit