When you experience symptoms of a stroke, get to College Station Medical Center. Our Code Stroke Team collaborates with local EMS to provide patients with quick access to our advanced diagnostic and treatment technology.
Stroke, also called brain attack, occurs when blood flow to the brain is disrupted. Disruption in blood flow is caused when either a blood clot blocks one of the vital blood vessels in the brain (ischemic stroke), or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, spilling blood into surrounding tissues (hemorrhagic stroke).
Health Demos
Stroke Treatment
Once a stroke occurs, what treatment is used? Treatment options vary based on the type, severity, and location of the stroke. Become more aware of these options and the importance of early, life-saving treatment.
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Stroke: Causes
Have you every wondered what causes a stroke? Your experience may reflect that it occurs suddenly, without warning. Stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is disrupted. View the animation and learn how and why strokes occur and more importantly, warning signs that can save a life.
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Stroke Health Tips
- Diabetes and High Blood Pressure - Having diabetes as well as high blood pressure dramatically increases the risk for having a silent stroke, according to the American Stroke Association. This, in turn, can increase the risk for having a regular stroke. People with high blood pressure and diabetes need to control these chronic conditions to reduce their future stroke risk.
- Fruits, Vegetables Protect Against Stroke - Eating fruits and green or yellow vegetables daily may protect against stroke. A 48-year study of 120,321 people found almost-daily consumption of green and yellow vegetables reduced the risk for death from stroke by 26 percent in both men and women, compared with those who ate no vegetables more than once a week. Almost-daily fruit intake reduced the risk by 35 percent in men and 25 percent in women. The study was published in 2003 in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
- Potassium and Stroke - Eating foods that contain potassium could reduce your risk for stroke. One study in the journal Stroke found that people who consumed fewer than 2,300 mg of potassium per day had a 50 percent higher stroke risk than those who consumed more than 4,100 mg. Good sources of potassium include baked potatoes with skin, plain yogurt, cantaloupes and honeydew melons, halibut and tuna steaks, grapefruit, orange or prune juice, bananas and molasses.
- Smoking Boosts Stroke Risk - Men who smoke increase their risk for bleeding stroke every time they light up, says the American Stroke Association. An 18-year study of more than 20,000 men found that those who smoke more than a pack of cigarettes a day double their stroke risk compared with people who have never smoked or those who've kicked their habits.
- Stress and Stroke Risk - People who say they are highly stressed have double the risk for fatal stroke as people who say they are stress-free, according to the American Stroke Association. Researchers believe this may be the case because stressed people tend to have more cardiovascular risk factors, including smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, higher alcohol consumption and high blood pressure.
Awards
The College Station Medical Center has been awarded the Gold Seal of Approval for stroke care by The Joint Commission (TJC). The advanced certification as a Primary Stroke Center from TJC recognizes the hospital’s commitment to the highest standards in the country for stroke care. The goal of the MED’s stroke treatment program is to provide the best care to every stroke patient. The program includes a multidisciplinary team of physicians from emergency medicine, neurology, neurosurgery and interventional radiology, as well as nursing, rehabilitation services, pharmacy, radiology and social work. In addition to dedicated stroke care 24 hours a day, the MED’s stroke program includes neurological telemedicine that is able to remotely evaluate suspected stroke patients in the Brazos Valley where neurology expertise is not immediately available.