Published On January 6, 2016
TECHNOLOGY
Turning a Corner in Stroke Care
Neurologist Lee Schwamm looks at 10 pivotal years in the treatment of stroke victims.
When Proto published its first issue in 2005, researchers who study stroke were just beginning to clarify the benefits of the therapeutic protein named tissue plasminogen activator (TPA). Massachusetts General Hospital had also just started a TeleStroke Program, which allowed neurologists to remotely offer their expertise to help diagnose and treat stroke patients within a critical time window.
Both ideas have made a major impact in how stroke victims are treated. MGH’s own TeleStroke program has expanded to 30 hospitals covering 6.5 million patients, and similar programs have taken root around the world. In this video, Lee Schwamm, vice chairman of the department of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, examines those and other treatments, including a revolutionary new use of catheters.
“Stroke affects about 800,000 patients each year and is the number one cause of adult disability in the United States," he says. “We are on the edge of an epidemic of stroke care if we don’t figure out ways to improve the health of our population."
From Mass General
Climate Change Meets an Aging Population The most common victims of extreme weather events are older people. New research looks into how the health system fails them, and how it can be fixed.
A Revolution in Cancer Treatment Peter L. Slavin and Timothy G. Ferris discuss the promise of CAR T cell therapy for solid tumors.
Singular Exceptions Should primary care physicians be trained to spot unusual, medically important cases?
Silent No More Peter L. Slavin and Timothy G. Ferris discuss the need to end workplace violence in health care.
An Extra Pair of (A)Is Machine intelligence takes a big step into the clinic, with a technology that helps identify patients with an elevated risk of breast cancer.
Ending the AIDS Epidemic Since the early 1980s, AIDS has killed more than 35 million people worldwide. But researchers are determined to find better treatments, cures and preventions that many finally put an end to the epidemic.
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