European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 07, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday. December 7. 19b5 the stars and stripes Page 17 new aggressive treatment for stroke victims by Gayle Young United press International a 47-year-old new York Citzman recently suffered a seve e stroke. He was one of a estimated 400.000 Ameri cans who will do so this year. The conventional treatment would be to make the Man As comfortable As pos sible and let nature Lake its course if he lived he would probably be paralysed on one Side of his body facing a lifetime of physical therapy. But doctors at Columbia presbyterian Hospital pumped blood thinning drugs Inlo his system in an Effort to squeeze blood past the clot that was blocking the blood flow to part of his brain. Then he was wheeled into surgery where a blood vessel leading to his Scalp was shunted to his oxygen starved brain cells. Within 12 hours of waking the paralysing symptoms that had alerted the Man to the stroke had subsided. Within months Doc tors said the symptoms were gone. The shunt operation while controversial illustrates e new aggressive approach to immediate treatment of stroke victims to prevent permanent damage to their nervous systems. We had a passive approach that if we let them lie there maybe they would get better while we stood by wringing our hands said or. James f. Toote professor of neurology at Gray school of Medicine in Winston Stem . A lot of the treatments that have been developed in the last five years May or May not work he said. But we Are being much More aggressive More will ing to  one of the most common kinds of stroke the third loading cause of death in the United states results when a Small clot of blood lodges in an artery leading to the brain. The clot cuts off the brain s Supply of oxygen and blood resulting in death or irreparable brain damage that often leaves victims partially paralysed. Doctor now Bill a that while some areas of the brain Are Cut off from the blood Supply others suffer Only a decrease. The cells in these partially affected areas Are salvageable if More blood can be supplied within a few hours. Studies showed that a few Days after the stroke patients were still deteriorating said or. David e. Levy associate Erma Bombeck strokes when blood flow to brain is interrupted causes thrombus clot inside an artery Haemorrhage defective artery ingrain bursts flooding surrounding tissue with blood Anu Ryan blood filled pouches that burst from weak spots in the artery Wall 4k�a univ. Emboli Wev. Wandering Dot is canted in bloodstream until it gets stuck in an artery leading to brain the shunt operation this new aggressive approach diverts a blood vessel from the Scalp and taps it into the damaged artery above the rupture or Dot by my Swetmon Sou. Inc ago Tutu Nam report professor of neurology it Cornell univer sity medical College. It s believed these marginal areas were slowly worsening As they went longer and longer with an inadequate blood Supply. The marginal areas Aie still viable it we get to them last  the shunt operation has been used for almost a decade but doctors from Canada appearing at a neurosurgery Confer ence in Chicago recently released the re sults of an exhaustive study that show the operation is ineffective and even dangerous. Doctors at Columbia presbyterian say most of the patients in the Canadian study were people who had Early warning signs of an impending stroke and received the shunt operation As a Preven Tive measure. It s not proven therapy for a stable stroke victim said or. Thomas k. Pate Michi a neurologist at Columbia presbyterian. In the Case of the new York Man it was an emergency procedure and had Success for this patient in partic  other neurologists across the country said in interviews that while shunt operations May be relegated to the Back ground of stroke study because of the Canadian report a Tew patients May still derive Benefit from them. There Are other less controversial treatments designed to increase the blood Supply to partially affected areas of the brain doctors say. The most com Mon Are drugs that decrease the viscosity of blood thinning it so it can Low past the clot. Other experiments have used drugs which dissolve clots but these have proved fatal in Many esses said tools As the clots quickly dissolve blood rushes past them into veins weak from Doss use. They give Way under the tremendous pressure and cause a Haemorrhage in the brain that is often fatal he said. However doctors in Germany have successfully entered a Catheter in the affected artery and right up to the clot said Toole. Through this tube they have re leased a chemical that carefully dissolves the clot and allows blood slowly Back into the areas of the brain. There will probably be much More in the Lulu re said Toole. It s part of a whole new attitude toward  v a la mothers Are courageous. You hate to sin Gle out any one group to Honor but there Isa special place in heaven for mothers of children who play musical  love pm. They never know when a phone is ringing. They never hear a Jet zooming Over head. They Don t hear anything. They just sit Here with a smile on their faces watch your lips and pick up an occasional word Here and there. They want to believe that Mozart had i Mother. They want to believe mrs. Osmond lived in a Hotetz be he children were growing up and practising  meals. They want to be reassured that a players can someday afford to 0et rna Neci and into Down and raise children. They have to a wives that someday someone will invent a portable drum set so Small it will fit inside the car. Mothers of musicians Are the loneliest women in the world. They Are always apologizing to someone. To the neighbors to other members of the family to the world. They Are torn Between having the patience to hear the spider song on the piano Tor live hours at a crack or strangling a tuba player with their Bare hands and feeling guilty for the rest of their lives. Fathers of musical children Are very supportive. That is because they have never had an Amateur band consisting of a flute guitar and drum practice on their Back porch All summer. Grass will die under those conditions they seem to feel it is a Mother s Job to encourage this Talent that lies dormant. My husband suggested we give All three of our children piano lessons. I did that. One Day he said. When Are we going to get a piano Lor them to practice on that was t part of the  i said. I Only said yes to lessons. After All if they played baseball would we turn our living room into a sandlot in childhood musical inclination is something that is included in every Christmas newsletter with great Pride. I wish i had a dime for every bragging Parent who told me How their 3-year-old was a guest conductor with the symphony and How Randy was the hit of his Kinder Garten commencement with his Elvis imitation. However everyone expects them 10 outgrow it and by the time a child is 20 or so and still into music people regard him or her As a bum. What is Stevie doing these Days he plays the  i m sorry. Is there no Way you can talk him Inlo getting a real Job this column pays tribute today to you mrs. Springsteen and you Mother Jackson and especially you mrs. Starr and All the other mothers who have survived it All. You Are Beautiful. I said you re Beautiful. Watch my lips. You-Are-3eeautiiiifulllu c Loi Ane Tot Tirry Syndicate