What Doctors Don't Tell YouStroke victims given standard t-PA (human tissue plasminogen activator) treatment face a very high risk of suffering a brain hemorrhage, and possibly a fatal one.
Research among 291 stroke patients found that 6.4 per cent of those given the treatment went on to suffer a hemorrhage, and half of those died. This compares with just 0.6 per cent who suffered a hemorrhage after being given a placebo treatment.
Another study, this time among 333 stroke patients, found little difference in recovery between those given standard treatment and those given a placebo.
The one positive outcome was that patients whose treatment was started within 90 minutes of the start of the stroke did better than those whose treatment was delayed.
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD
