HJAR Mar/Apr 2021

42 MAR / APR 2021 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS COLUMN NEUROLOGY Time = Brain: Recognizing Stroke Symptoms This should come as a sobering reality check. The mortality rate for stroke in Arkansas sits among the worst in the nation. There’s no reason it has to be that way, though. As a community, we have the resources, facilities, technology and knowledge to save lives. The real challenge comes when patients don’t recognize stroke symptoms or delay critical care after suffering a stroke. I often describe stroke as a brain attack. A clot or bleeding blood vessel in the brain triggers the stroke and begins to starve the brain of oxygen. Without that oxygen, brain cells will begin to die within minutes; and once they die, they cannot be replaced. When it comes to treatment and brain health following a stroke, we have to begin by understanding that time = brain.