Posted on 06/27/2004 11:35:41 AM PDT by neverdem
Hemophilia Drug Sharply Lowers Risk of Death or Severe Disability, Study Indicates
A Therapysharply cuts the chances that victims of the most devastating type of stroke will die or be severely disabled, providing the first possible treatment for brain hemorrhages, researchers reported yesterday.
An international study involving 400 patients found that a single infusion of the drug, a synthetic version of a naturally occurring protein, given within three hours after onset cut by about one-third the risk of death or severe disability among patients in the midst of a bleeding stroke. This type of stroke hits about 80,000 Americans each year and about 2 million people worldwide.
The findings mark only the second time that any treatment has been shown to be effective for any type of stroke and the first time a treatment has been found effective for bleeding strokes, which are the deadliest and most disabling.
"These results are beyond my wildest dreams," said Stephan A. Mayer, an associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, who led the study. "I thought this might work, but I had no idea it would work so well. I'm walking around in a state of shock. I'm very excited."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
GREAT NEWS PING!!!
Go to BugMeNot.com if you don't want to register with WaPo.
excellent news bttt
Excellent news ping
bttt
Wow. Thanks for the link.
What's interesting is this drug is also used in treating a form of hemophilia.
I'm surprised no hematologist or neurologist never thought of trying to add clotting factors before this. My father had a massive hemorrhagic CVA. He survived for another 13 years, but he had a profound retrograde amnesia thinking it was at least 30 years prior to when it was, and he would want to do the most inappropriate actions, e.g. go out of a second story window. My mother was a bank teller, my sister had to work, and I was literally on the other side of the world. He had no apparent physical disability besides an ataxic gait which long preceded the CVA. He wound up being placed in a psychiatric hospital.
It's been known for years that if you flood the coagulation cascade with certain factors it will lead to an increase in bleeding and a decrease in clot formation. But in all honesty I don't remember factor VIIa being part of the cascade when I worked in a coag lab about 20 plus decades ago.
I suspect they found the protein, applied it to where it was most usually needed, and are now starting to see where else it can be applied.
Medicine advancements moves rather slowly. Sometimes grant money, medicare reimbursements, and P.C. trumps common sense.The usual stuff that interferes with keeping people alive.
You know, the idea is breathtakingly simple! And we've been giving factor VIIa for years. You want to slap your head and wonder "Why didn't anybody think of that?!". Most great things in medicine are just a way of looking at things very carefully, but in an original way. Like a fungus (Penicillum) inhibiting bacterial growth on a petri dish and voila...The beginning of antibiotics. Such terrific news!
may be of interest
Found another article and have passed it on to the Emergency Department docs.
Thanks for the link!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.