Nov 4 : Almost 70 percent of stroke victims in the US fail to reach hospital within three hours of the first symptoms, a delay that greatly endangers their lives, a new study says.

The delay keeps many patients from receiving tPA, the only approved treatment for stroke caused by blood clots in the brain, says the study by University of Michigan researchers and published in the journal Stroke.

Administered intravenously within the first three hours of the start of a stroke, or injected directly into the brain within six hours, tPA can break up clots and stop or slow the damage caused by strokes.

Though the dangers of delay have been widely publicized in the US, which records a stroke every 45 seconds, only 44 percent of patients experiencing full-blown clot-based strokes got to the hospital within six hours and 36 percent got there after more than 12 hours had passed.

The symptoms of stroke are: sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body; sudden trouble speaking or understanding; trouble seeing in one or both eyes; trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination; severe headache with no known cause.

The researchers say their findings underscore the importance of public education efforts to help everyone understand that when a stroke strikes, they should head for hospital immediately. (IANS)