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New Treatments Medical Help for Stroke Patients Can GreatlyImprove...

Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights is providing new hope for stroke patients (www.nch.org/medical-services/stroke). A new set of treatments - when administered within hours - can significantly diminish the effects of a stroke and help restore a patient'ss quality of life.

Many times when we'sre ill or injured we tell ourselves to wait it out, said Dr. Ali Shaibani, an expert physician who came to NCH last year from Northwestern Memorial Hospital. But doing so in the event of a stroke is dangerous, and can even be deadly.

Strokes are the leading cause of disability in the United States, and the third-leading cause of death. Shaibani, director of NeuroInterventional Surgery, said physicians who are part of a stroke hospital or stroke intervention program - both of which describe NCH - have two new ways of providing medical help (www.nch.org/medical-services/stroke) for a stroke:

* The first treatment must be administered within three hours of a stroke. This intervention uses an IV to deliver tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) - a thrombolytic agent, or clot-busting drug.

* The second uses interventional radiology to navigate to directly dissolve or remove the clot.

Both treatments are highly effective and follow American Stroke Association guidelines, said Shaibani, also an associate professor of Radiology and Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University'ss Feinberg School of Medicine. The benefits to stroke patients are enormous, he said. It extends the window of stroke treatment to six to eight hours, and it increases the possibility of preventing long-term disability and even death.

Timing is critical to the success of these interventions. Ultimately, immediate regard for the patient'ss safety is the biggest determinant in this and any emergency. But if you think you'sre having a stroke and are stable, you have a right to request from your 911 service that you be taken to a designated primary stroke center, such as Northwest Community Hospital.

Stroke symptoms, according to the American Heart Association, include the sudden onset of:

* Numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body

* Confusion, or trouble speaking or seeing

* Dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination

* Severe headache with no known cause

Shaibani'ss expertise in interventional neuroradiology greatly expands NCH'ss ability to provide state-of-the-art care for stroke patients (www.nch.org/medical-services/stroke) and patients with vascular diseases of the brain and spine. Specifically, he is skilled in treating patients with acute stroke, intra-cranial aneurysms and vascular malformations, as well as embolization of tumors and vascular lesions of the brain, head, neck and spine.

With Dr. Shaibani on board, we have significantly broadened the number of tools we can offer to the people of our community who have suffered a stroke, an aneurysm or any of a host of other serious neurological conditions, said Dr. Leighton Smith, vice president of Medical Affairs at Northwest Community Hospital.

Get medical help and more information on the hospital'ss stroke program by visiting www.nch.org/medical-services/stroke.

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