For American Stroke Month, medical experts explain the critical window for treatment.
“Time is brain. So, you have to think about every minute that the brain is starved of oxygen, that brain tissue is potentially dying,” Dr. Faye Rao, with Rao Heart and Vascular, said.
In just 60 seconds, a stroke can cause a person to lose one to two million brain cells, according to Dr. Peter Rao.
“Over a period of time, if for every 10 minutes of stroke time that’s elapsed, you might have more permanent injury, sometimes shorter life expectancy at the end of that. So, it’s critically important to get somewhere quickly to get treatment,” Dr. Rao said. A stroke happens when blood flow to part of the brain is cut off, often caused by a blood clot or a ruptured blood vessel.
When oxygen isn’t getting to that part of the brain, brain cells start dying. Husband and wife cardiologists Dr. Peter and Faye Rao said there is a critical window of time to act.
“What we call the golden hour, which is the first 60 minutes after the onset of a stroke. That’s when we know that if we can restore blood flow in that time, the likelihood of significant recovery is most likely. After that, you start to lose opportunity, the damage becomes a little bit more permanent as time goes, and then it’s harder to regain that opportunity to salvage brain tissue,” Dr. Peter Rao said.
“Newer advancements in therapy have opened up the opportunity for the treatment window to extend beyond what we used to think. So, the treatments available that we have originally were what we call clot-busting medications, and those are most effective the sooner that you can administer it,” Dr. Peter Rao said. Both doctors emphasized the importance of time in responding to a stroke.
“If you act quickly, the chances of you being able to fix the problem is that much greater,” Dr. Faye Rao said. “It means the difference between life and death. The difference between permanent disability, partial disability, or no disability whatsoever,” Dr. Peter Rao said. Knowing the warning signs saves lives: face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty and time.
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