6 VIEWS & REVIEWS

F_ adion needed for 'brain attacks' Patients with stroke should be evaluated and

treated within 6 hours of the onset of symptoms. according to a recently issued consensus statement from the US National Stroke Association and 7 other neurological groups.

The panel recommends the inclusion of an emergency computed tomography scan in the initial evaluation of a stroke patient. It is important to know the nature of the stroke since raised BP is often over-treated. producing dangerous reductions in cerebral perfusion. stated panel member Dr Sydney Starkman.

Dr Starkman believes that in a few years there would be time-dependent therapies for stroke available and that the medical community needed to think 'Time is brain'. McCarthy M. Time is brain. Lancet 341: 1339-1340.22 May 1993 10019'1736

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