At risk.Stroke patients with dementia not given preventive care STROKE PATIENTS WITH DEMENTIA OFTEN don't receive prescribed drugs that could prevent repeated occurrences of stroke, according to a report in the July issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society The American Geriatrics Society (AGS): a professional society founded on June 11, 1942 for doctors practicing geriatric medicine. Among the founding physicians were Dr. Ignatz Leo Nascher, who coined the term "geriatrics," Dr. Malford W. . According to the study, a stroke victim with dementia is 2.5 times less likely a stroke victim with no dementia to receive aspirin or warfarin warfarin (wôr`fərĭn), anticoagulant used to treat blood clots. In large doses it causes bleeding. Warfarin, mixed with bait, is used in rodent control. warfarin Anticoagulant drug, marketed as Coumadin. , two standard blood clot-prevention medications that can improve blood flow and help reduce the risk of a subsequent stroke. Researchers studied 272 people over the age of 60 who suffered an isehemic stroke. Caused by a reduction in blood flow to the brain caused by a blood clot blood clot n. A semisolid, gelatinous mass of coagulated blood that consists of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets in a fibrin network. or blocked artery, these account for 80 percent of strokes. The study concluded that 33 percent of untreated patients had an "adverse outcome," such as a second stroke or death, compared with only 18 percent of treated patients. Discharge to a long term care facility may account for some patients not receiving the medication they need, theorizes Joan T. Moroney, MD, of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, abbreviated P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . "Often, the anticoagulant anticoagulant (ăn'tēkōăg`yələnt), any of several substances that inhibit blood clot formation (see blood clotting). medication that's given at the hospital is not continued at a long term care facility," she says, noting that many doctors are concerned about the risk of bleeding associated with anticoagulant drugs, especially with patients who have trouble walking and are susceptible to falls. "It may be that the side effects are too great, but the reasons are not well understood." More frequent use of aspirin and warfarin in stroke patients with dementia may reduce their risk of recurrent stroke and death. researchers conclude. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion