Approximately 58,000 Patients Every Year In US May Wake Up With Stroke Symptoms

USA Today (5/10, Marcus) reports, “One in seven strokes happens at night, and sufferers may not get medicine that could prevent brain damage, suggests a new study” published in Neurology. Investigators “analyzed data from 1,854 patients over 18 who had been treated in hospital emergency departments in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky over the course of a year for ischemic strokes.” The researchers “found that 273 patients experienced wake-up strokes.”

The CNN (5/9) “The Chart” blog reported that the “researchers found that 98 of the 273 wake-up strokes used in their study would have qualified for…clot-busting treatment if medical staff could only have known when the stroke symptoms began.”

Reuters (5/10) reports that the researchers calculate that, were the data extrapolated nationally, approximately 58,000 individuals in the US seek emergency treatment each year after waking up with stroke symptoms.

WebMD (5/9, Hendrick) reported that the investigators “compared people who reported to emergency departments with wake-up strokes to those who had strokes while awake. No differences were noted between the two groups in terms of sex, whether they were married or living with a partner, and their stroke risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, or high cholesterol.”