Deaths from strokes can be halved if people recognize the signs of an attack and call an ambulance immediately, the National Health Service said on Monday.

New clot-busting treatments can produce “Lazarus-like” effects and have patients up and about within a day if administered within three hours of a stroke, said Roger Boyle, the National Director for Heart Disease and Stroke.

“In the past, we would normally expect about a third (of stroke patients) to die, a third to require long-term institutional care and a third to get home but to be quite badly damaged,” he said.

“We now know that if we treat stroke as a medical emergency we can make a big difference.”

Stroke is the third-leading cause of death in Britain, killing 67,000 people a year. It the single largest cause of adult disability, with around 150,000 people suffering a stroke annually.

From Monday, the NHS will start a three-year publicity campaign to make people more familiar with the signs of a stroke.

Adverts will tell people to dial 999 immediately if they see one of three visible symptoms - a drooping face, paralyzed arms or slurred speech.

Using the acronym FAST - Face, Arms, Speech, Time - it aims to raise public awareness of stroke symptoms to a similar level to that for heart attacks.

“Most of us now would acknowledge that (if you see) chest pain, arm pain, difficulty in breathing, you dial 999 for the possibility of a heart attack,” said Health Minister Ann Keen.

Under the government’s National Stroke Strategy, patients with a suspected stroke - a loss of function due to a clot or bleeding in the brain - should get an immediate scan on arrival at hospital.

This will determine whether a clot is stopping blood reaching the brain - which accounts for around three-quarters of strokes - or there has been a hemorrhage.

Patients with a clot will be given a clot-busting drug while those with internal bleeding may be referred to a neurological unit.

“If you get this whole pathway right, you get the rapid response from the individual, you get a rapid response from the ambulance service, you get immediate scan, you get direct admission to a stroke unit ... you can halve the death rate in just one year,” said Boyle.

By Tim Castle
LONDON (Reuters)