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Stroke Times
April 9, 2008 |
Most specialists agree, the quicker you can recognize and respond to a stroke,
the better the treatment outcome will be. Dianna Highsmith is an Occupational
Therapist who has seen that statement proven time and time again. She says,
“Make sure that you get there as fast as possible so that you’ve got time to get
the therapy that can prevent it from becoming a permanent disability.” But a
recent study supported by the American Stroke Association states that the time
of day you have a stroke could play a factor in your treatment. The study found
stroke patients who arrived between seven in the morning and six in the evening
had a greater chance of survival. It added that many stroke victims who were
treated on weekends recovered less successfully than those who were not. Dr.
Paul Driscoll is a physician who works with the Stroke Unit at Lee Memorial
Hospital. He says these statistics are not quite reliable. “It’s just an
interesting phenomenon there’s just not a whole lot of hard science to it. You
can’t not have a weekend or not have a night.” But he says the actual time of
day can play a role in when a stroke occurs. They can strike at any time but Dr.
Driscoll says strokes tend to be more common in the morning hours. “It’s really
not completely clear but your risk of having a stroke varies to an extent during
the course of the day and your risk of having a stroke is slightly higher in
those early morning hours just before we would ordinarily wake up and start our
day.” But even more important than the time of day you have a stroke is the time
it takes to react to it. “If you were to have one of those symptoms, sudden loss
of the ability to speak, vision alteration, or weakness or numbness on one side
of the body you should have yourself or a family member dial 9-1-1. The EMS
system is all set up to manage these strokes in a sense like a heart attack.
It’s actually kind of a well oiled machine all the way from that 911 call all
the way through the ER and into the hospital,” says Dr. Driscoll. Another way to
decrease your stroke risk is by managing risk factors like obesity, diabetes,
and cigarette smoking. Maintaining good hydration throughout the day can help
lessen your risk of stroke at night. |
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