MONDAY, Oct. 31 (HealthDay News) -- People with dementia who
suffer a stroke are more likely to be disabled and less likely to
return home than stroke patients who didn't have dementia, a new
study finds.
Researchers looked at 702 people who had dementia at the time
they had a stroke and 8,602 patients without dementia who had a
stroke.
The stroke patients with pre-existing dementia were more likely
to have moderate to severe disability when discharged from the
hospital (81 percent vs. 57 percent) and were less likely to return
to the place they lived before their stroke (24 percent vs. 45
percent).
The researchers also found that patients with dementia were more
likely to have a severe stroke and an abnormal heart rhythm and
less likely to receive the drug tPA, a clot-busting medication used
to treat stroke.
A stroke, sometimes referred to as a "brain attack," occurs when
blood stops circulating to the brain. The study appears in the Nov.
1 issue of the journal
Neurology.
"Our findings represent a growing challenge for the health care system as baby boomers age and their risk of stroke and dementia increases," lead study author Dr. Gustavo Saposnik, of the University of Toronto in Canada, said in a journal news release.
"How to best manage stroke patients with pre-existing dementia is under debate and raises several diagnostic, management and ethical issues as some facilities may limit access to specialized stroke care for dementia patients unless the care is likely to improve outcomes," he noted.
"The lack of established guidelines for the management and treatment of stroke patients with dementia contributes to this uncertainty," Saposnik added.
Another study is being conducted to determine whether dementia
itself or other factors such as hypertension, diabetes, atrial
fibrillation and smoking are responsible for the poorer prognosis
that stroke patients with pre-existing dementia face.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
has more about
stroke and stroke prevention.