The most widely known and the only FDA-approved drug for treatment of ischemic stroke — intravenous tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) — can reverse stroke if given to carefully selected patients within a few hours of stroke onset.
With stroke, “time is brain,” meaning that the sooner treatment begins, the better. Knowing the signs of stroke and calling 911 immediately can help save a relative, neighbor, or friend. With timely treatment it is possible to save these cells and greatly reduce and reverse the damage.
tPA quickly dissolves the clots that cause many strokes. By opening a blocked blood vessel and restoring blood flow, tPA can reduce the amount of damage to the brain that can occur during a stroke.
The short answer is yes, stroke can be cured — but it occurs in two stages. First, doctors administer specific treatment to restore normal blood flow in the brain and stop further damage. Then, the patient participates in rehabilitation to cure the secondary effects that result from the stroke.
Stopping More Strokes with tPA Treatment
The most widely known and the only FDA-approved drug for treatment of ischemic stroke — intravenous tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) — can reverse stroke if given to carefully selected patients within a few hours of stroke onset.
For this reason, the 60 minutes after the onset of stroke symptoms are known as “the golden hour.” If treatment can be initiated within this brief window, the patient's outcome is likely to be better.
Anticoagulants help keep the blood from clotting. They make clots harder to form or slow them from growing. Warfarin and heparin are common examples. There are also medicines called direct oral anticoagulant and these include: Apixaban (Eliquis), dabigatran (Pradaxa), edoxaban (Lixiana, Savaysa), rivaroxaban (Xarelto).
Thrombolysis – "clot buster" medicine
Ischaemic strokes can often be treated using injections of a medicine called alteplase, which dissolves blood clots and restores blood flow to the brain. This use of "clot-busting" medicine is known as thrombolysis.
How Does a Stroke Impact Life Expectancy? Despite the likelihood of making a full recovery, life expectancy after stroke incidents can decrease. Unfortunately, researchers have observed a wide range of life expectancy changes in stroke patients, but the average reduction in lifespan is nine and a half years.
Unfortunately, the blood thinners used to prevent such blood clots can increase the risk of bleeding in the brain, a cause of hemorrhagic stroke.
Physical therapy uses exercises to help you relearn movement and coordination skills you may have lost because of the stroke. Occupational therapy focuses on improving daily activities, such as eating, drinking, dressing, bathing, reading, and writing.
Some strokes can lead to death. Anticoagulants, often called “blood thinners”, are medications to prevent these strokes. They prevent harmful blood clots from forming.
Acupuncture is an alternative health treatment that involves inserting thin needles into specific “acupoints” on the body. Studies have shown that acupuncture helps improve mobility after stroke, especially when it's combined with traditional physical therapy.
In the Nurses' Health Study, low plasma magnesium concentrations (<0.82 mmol/L) were associated with an approximately 70% to 80% increased risk of embolic and thrombotic stroke,12 supporting our findings.
Early treatment for ischemic stroke (clot)
It must be given as soon as possible, ideally within 4½ hours after stroke symptoms started.
Some of the most common stroke mimics are seizures, migraine, fainting, serious infections and functional neurological disorder (FND). Once the person is diagnosed, they can have treatment or support to manage their symptoms.
Note the time you first see symptoms
A clot-busting medication called tPA, or tissue plasminogen activator, can be given to someone if they're having a stroke, potentially reversing or stopping symptoms from developing. But it has to be given within 4.5 hours of the start of symptoms, Dr. Humbert says.
Even after surviving a stroke, you're not out of the woods, since having one makes it a lot more likely that you'll have another. In fact, of the 795,000 Americans who will have a first stroke this year, 23 percent will suffer a second stroke.
Stress can cause the heart to work harder, increase blood pressure, and increase sugar and fat levels in the blood. These things, in turn, can increase the risk of clots forming and travelling to the heart or brain, causing a heart attack or stroke.
There is no safe number of strokes a person can have, and no set limit on how many someone can have before a stroke is fatal. The more strokes an individual has, the higher the likelihood of lasting damage or death. One in four people who have had a stroke will have another.
A new study published in November 2022 in Annals of Internal Medicine found apibaxan to be the safest blood thinner among DOACs, including dabigatran, edoxaban and rivaroxaban. Apibaxan was associated with the lowest risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.