According to the American Heart Association, there are several ways to treat patients that have suffered a stroke, including surgery, medication, hospital care and rehabilitation. However, two new studies have found that cholesterol-lowering statins and acetaminophen may help prevent stroke or treat patients after a stroke has occurred. One study out of the Netherlands found that by lowering body temperature in patients with temperatures from 98.6 to 102.2 shortly after the onset of a stroke, acetaminophen could improve the person’s outcome. Researchers noted that many stroke sufferers experience a fever during the occurrence, making it more likely that their recovery will be lesser than that of someone that did not experience a fever during stroke. The reason behind this is that during a stroke, certain brain cells are not receiving a sufficient amount of blood, and when the body temperature rises, those cells require even more blood and oxygen to survive. Therefore, by providing fever-reducing acetaminophen, the body temperature will decrease, allowing the brain cells to live longer with less blood and oxygen. Researchers conducted the study using 1,400 participants, providing them with either acetaminophen or a placebo within 12 hours of the start of their stroke symptoms. They found that 40 percent of the study participants that had temperatures from 98.6 to 102.2 saw an improvement, compared to 31 percent that received the placebo. However, the majority of participants involved in the study that received acetaminophen had no significant improvement over the placebo group.
In the second study, French researchers found that the use of statins, or cholesterol-lowering drugs, appeared to lower the risk of stroke. Preventing stroke through statin use has been the basis of several other studies, however, this most recent study incorporated the results of 24 previous studies and more than 165,000 participants. Researchers found that the risk of stroke fell by 21 percent for every 1 millimole per liter reduction in bad cholesterol (LDL) through statin use, compared to those who were not given stains. Statin use has been found to delay the formation of blockages in the arteries that provide the head and neck with blood from the heart. The results of these two studies may result in additional options for stroke sufferers and improved stroke prevention methods. If you or a loved one has been the victim of stroke malpractice in New York as a result of a delay in diagnosis or treatment, call or e-mail the malpractice lawyers at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. Our firm serves clients with Brooklyn stroke malpractice, Bronx stroke malpractice, Manhattan stroke malpractice, Queens stroke malpractice and Long Island stroke malpractice cases. Call today for your free consultation.
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