According to Sue Curfman, Director of Therapies at Saint Anthony's Health Center, every 45 seconds someone in America has a stroke and stroke is the third leading cause of the death in the country. However, there are currently over 4 million stroke survivors.
“A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain bursts or gets clogged,” said Sue. “Clots that block an artery cause ischemic strokes. This is the most common type of stroke and accounts for 85 percent of all strokes. Millions of brain cells die each minute a stroke is untreated.” “Each stroke has different effects,” said Sue. “If you have a stroke you could suffer paralysis, have trouble talking or understanding speech, your vision could be affected, and you could lose emotional control or become depressed. It's important to get treatment as quickly as possible in order to minimize long term effects of a stroke. Every second counts.”
Identifying symptoms of a stroke could save a life. Symptoms include:
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
- Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
Following a stroke, there are two areas of injury: the core ischemic zone and the "ischemic penumbra." The ischemic penumbra is potentially viable tissue and the goal is to protect the penumbra by restoring blood flow as soon as possible and salvage the cells. Thus, the devastating effects of the stroke will be reduced.
Saint Anthony’s Acute Rehab recognized May Stroke Awareness Month by raising awareness throughout Saint Anthony’s Health Center. Mission Partners wore bright green shirts with an educational message of “Protect the Penumbra” printed on the back.
Acute Rehab, located at Saint Clare’s Hospital, 915 East Fifth Street, has an average of 82 percent of their stroke patients returning to home environment, exceeding the national bench mark of 75 percent. Each stroke patient in the Acute Rehab Unit has an individual treatment plan to assist with their specific needs.
For more information on Saint Anthony’s Acute Rehab Unit, please call 618/463-5406.