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For Immediate Release
March 14, 2006
Mercy Neurosurgeon to Speak to Yukon Residents
Oklahoma City—Dr. Richard Vertrees Smith,
medical director of Mercy NeuroScience Institute—the largest
concentration of neuroscience services in the central southwest—will
speak Friday, March 21, at 7 p.m. at the Yukon High School fine arts
auditorium.
Dr. Smith, a neurosurgeon, will talk about the
importance of early recognition and treatment of stroke and why it’s
essential that people know the warning signs.
“This is the first time in the history of medicine,
from Hippocrates in 436 B.C., to the year 2000 that there has been any
meaningful treatment of stroke,” said Dr. Smith.” It’s dramatic. In
stroke treatment, we are now where we were 15 or 20 years ago with heart
care.”
Over the past four years, Mercy has developed the
only stroke treatment protocol in the state—intra-arterial thrombolytics
treatment—that provides stroke patients help in the first six critical
hours after the first signs of stroke. Instead of certain death or
severe disabilities, many stroke patients leave the hospital within a
few days, returning to a normal life with reduced or minimal after
effects from stroke.
Oklahoma ranks 12th in the nation for the number of
deaths due to stroke, according to the American Heart Association. About
80 percent of all strokes are caused by blood clots that cut off the
blood supply to the brain. Studies show that the average person waits 13
hours after experiencing the first symptoms of stroke before seeking
medical attention, and 42 percent of patients wait as long as 24 hours.
And since stroke knows no boundaries, it can affect all age groups.
The following are the most common symptoms of stroke
to watch for: • Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm and/or leg,
especially on one side of the body • Sudden confusion, trouble speaking
or understanding speech • Sudden trouble seeing, including double
vision, blurred vision or partial blindness, in one or both eyes •
Trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination • Sudden
severe, headache with no known cause
For more information about Mercy’s stroke program or
Dr. Smith’s talk at Yukon High School, call (405) 752-3968.
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